The Bonds That Break Us
by Teeheehee123
Summary: Sequel to The Ties That Bind - "If I am the chief of sinners, I am the chief of sufferers also."
1. Chapter 1

**"Good and evil are so close as to be chained together in the soul."**

 **-** Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

* * *

Dressed casually in jeans and a figure-hugging black top, Calleigh stood on Horatio's doorstep waiting for him to answer.

He had been released from the hospital three days ago and had allowed her to give him a lift home and help him settle back into his surroundings. As much as she would have liked to spend all her time with him, the lab had been under pressure to clear several cases.

As cliched as it sounded, crime never stopped and a citywide power outage had seen a spike in criminal activity. Even running both the day and night shift at full capacity had not been enough to clear the backlog until last night.

It had been midnight by the time she'd returned home to her apartment and she had simply fallen into bed and into a dreamless sleep.

She gave Horatio a beaming smile as he opened the door, a shy smile crossing his own features as he looked at her.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" he asked.

Calleigh lifted the paper bag in her hands. "I've got a special delivery for you."

Horatio arched an eyebrow. "Sounds interesting. You're not my usual courier though," he said, his eyes roaming her attire. "I'd order more home deliveries if you were."

Opening the door wider, he motioned for her to come in, wincing slightly as the movement pulled in his sore ribs.

It didn't go unnoticed by Calleigh.

"They still hurt?" she asked sympathetically.

"Only when I move...or breathe," he sighed.

Calleigh followed him to the kitchen, watching as he busied himself by making them coffee.

"It's been busy at the lab?" he asked, turning the coffee machine on.

She sat down heavily at the table. "Like you wouldn't believe."

"I guess it doesn't help being a man down either," he responded quietly.

She caught the frown that marred his features.

"Alexx is not going to let you back just yet."

Her ability to read his thoughts took Horatio by surprise.

"Am I that obvious?"

Calleigh smiled at him. "I know you, Horatio. Sitting at home is driving you mad. You couldn't sit still if you tried."

"Hmmm."

That noise he made when he was amused made her insides tingle. She could imagine the way it would rumble in his chest, the smile tugging at his lips.

"Have you been good?" Calleigh asked, taking the proffered coffee from him.

She looked at him over the rim of her cup, taking in his appearance.

Dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt, he hardly looked like the smartly-dressed lieutenant they all knew. The cuts and bruises on his face were fading with each day that passed, the only clear signs that remained of his ordeal were the cast on his left wrist and the way he cradled his ribs when he moved.

He rolled his eyes at her. "Yes, ma'am. I'm following the doctors orders to the letter."

Calleigh laughed as she saw the scowl cross his features. Horatio had been a less than ideal patient and had fought his doctor almost every step of the way in his recovery so far. As stubborn as he was, even Horatio had realised that the only way he would get back to work would be to follow his doctor's advice and he had done so, albeit reluctantly.

Standing, she made her way over to him and planted a kiss on his cheek before ruffling his hair. "Good boy."

It suddenly struck her that both she and Horatio were in a new phase of their relationship. She'd only just confessed to her feelings for him. They were slowly feeling their way around, moving from superior and subordinate towards two adults on an even footing.

Had she just done the wrong thing?

"In that case, I've been really, _really_ good," Horatio smiled as he placed his hands on her hips, pulling her close. "What would that get me?"

Leaning in, their lips met gently at first before the kiss became deeper.

As much as she was enjoying the feeling of being in his arms, Calleigh eventually broke the contact between them and fished something out of the paper bag she'd brought with her.

"It also gets you this," she said, handing him a book.

He looked at her briefly before returning his gaze to the gift she'd given him. "Where did you find this?" His eyes were still wide with wonder as he took in the limited edition copy of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

He'd read the book several times and it was still one of his favourites. Perhaps Calleigh had noticed that his copy of the book had become brittle throughout the years since his mother's death. It had been one of the only items he'd kept after the fateful night that his parents had died.

Something about the story spoke to his own conflicted nature. Each time he'd found himself at a crossroads in his life, he had picked up the book and reread it, hoping that he would find some sort of guidance from the pages.

He looked at her intently. "I'm not quite sure what to say." He glanced at the book in his hands and then returned his gaze to her face. "Thank you."

"I'm glad you like it."

He smiled at her. Not just any old smile, but one that finally reached those soulful blue eyes of his. "I love it," he told her sincerely.

"I've also got this," Calleigh said, lifting a huge packet of popcorn from the bag. "You wanna head to the couch and watch movies with me?"

"Will you put in a good word for me on Monday with Alexx if I do?" Horatio responded with a grin. "I'll have spent the weekend resting and relaxing, won't I?" he added as they made their way to the lounge.

She grabbed the remote from his hand and leant back on the sofa, tucking her legs underneath her. "Only if you let me do all the heavy lifting with the remote."

His only answer was the soft, "Hmmm," as made himself comfortable on the couch, stealing a handful of popcorn before she could notice.

—

"You wanna watch another one?" Calleigh asked as the credits rolled on the screen, turning her attention to the man sitting next to her when she received no response.

She smiled as she realised he'd fallen asleep during the film, his head tipped back and leaning to the side of the couch. The lines around his face seemed far less pronounced as he slept. At least he wasn't carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders when he was asleep too.

She would have loved to watch him sleep for longer, yet she knew he'd be due another round of painkillers soon and he'd regret not taking them. Despite the attack being over three weeks ago, she knew the amount of pain he was still in, even though he tried his best to hide it.

Deciding to let him sleep for a few more minutes, Calleigh quietly made her way to the kitchen, grabbing a glass of water and the pill bottle from the kitchen counter. She knew that taking such potent painkillers on an empty stomach would be a recipe for trouble and so she grabbed ingredients out of the refrigerator and set about making a sandwich for both of them.

Preparation complete, she headed back to the lounge to find Horatio in exactly the position she'd left him in. Touching his shoulder, she gave him a gentle shake to wake him. She shook him again and it was enough to make him sit up too quickly for his broken ribs. It took a moment or two for the disorientation to dissipate and his eyes to clear - a clear sign that the attack was still affecting him.

"Sorry," he mumbled, rubbing a hand across his face.

"Are you ok?" she asked softly, knowing the last thing he would want or need was her pity.

He nodded his head as she sat next to him, handing him the pills and water.

He looked as if he were about to object.

"Hey, you promised you were being a good boy, remember?" She gave him a sassy smile. "You want me to put in a good word with Alexx, don't you?"

He threw her a pale imitation of his patented glare although there was no malice behind it, only a sense of mild exasperation.

"Ok, but don't blame me if I fall asleep on you again this afternoon," he warned as he swallowed the pills with a mouthful of water.

"I think I can live with that," she replied before taking a bite of her sandwich.

—

"Pizza's here," Calleigh said, gently shaking him awake.

Horatio grimaced as he tried to sit straighter on the couch. "When did we order that?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Halfway through film number three. You know, the one you slept through."

Horatio felt the blush rise to his cheeks. "I'm…uh…I'm normally better company than this," he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Calleigh couldn't help but smile. Horatio had spent most of the afternoon sleeping, yet the fact that he had been next to her had made it one of the best days she could remember. She'd hardly had a lot of them lately and spending time with Horatio made her feel safe and relaxed. Spending time with him felt natural.

"I'll give you a pass, for now," she replied, flipping open the pizza box and handing him a slice.

He eyed the pepperoni pizza. "How did you know?" he asked before taking a bite.

Of course she knew. After transferring to Miami, she'd made it her mission to find out more about the mysterious Horatio Caine. Besides, she was a police officer, it stood to reason that she would always take note of the evidence before her.

She knew how he liked his coffee, what type of pizza he would order when the team were called on to work late…

"Lucky guess, I suppose," she replied, taking a bite.

She kept a watchful eye on him as he ate, frowning when she saw him pinch the bridge of his nose twice in as many minutes.

"Are you ok?" she asked, knowing that he would brush her concerns aside and tell her he was fine.

He glanced at her briefly and nodded his head before instantly regretting it. Suddenly, his stomach rebelled as he pulled himself from the couch and into the bathroom.

He looked miserable as he dragged himself back into the lounge several minutes later.

"You're still getting the headaches then?" she asked sympathetically, handing him a glass of water.

He took it gratefully, keen to remove the last remnants of bile from his mouth.

The doctor had warned him that the after effects of the head injury would likely last for several weeks.

"It's par for the course with skull fractures," the doctor had advised him. "It's completely natural to have attacks until the body recovers fully from the ordeal."

"But they'll go eventually, right?" Calleigh had asked, taking the proffered pharmacy bag from the doctor.

"They'll lessen with time…and rest," the doctor threw a pointed look at Horatio.

"So we don't need to be concerned about them?" Calleigh asked.

The doctor turned his attention back to his reluctant patient. "If you experience any blurred vision, confusion or loss of consciousness, you need to come straight back to the ER. Is that understood?"

Horatio nodded his head slightly. "Understood, doctor."

Calleigh placed a hand on his forehead, checking for any signs of a fever. "You don't feel dizzy, disorientated?"

He gently removed her hand from his head. "Just the headache, I promise."

She looked at him intently, checking for any signs that he might be lying to her.

"In that case, I'm taking you to bed."

His arched eyebrow caught her off guard as it suddenly occurred to her what her words must have sounded like.

"Cool your jets, big boy. I don't think you're in any shape for _that_ right now."

They looked at each other for a number of moments. Sure, they had shared a few kisses, but they were breaking new ground in their relationship. Becoming intimate would be the point of no return. Once their relationship had turned physical, it would be almost impossible for them to return to being superior and subordinate.

"Uh, bed then," Horatio finally said before making his way to his bedroom, unsure if Calleigh would follow him.

Busying herself with pouring a glass of water in the kitchen, Calleigh gave herself a few moments to regain her composure. Both of them had confessed to their feelings for one another, but were either of them really ready to take the next step? Would Horatio think her cheap for sleeping with him after such a short space of time?

Her thoughts were disturbed by a growling noise emanating from Horatio's bedroom. Grabbing the bottle of painkillers, she made her way into his room, faintly amused at his current predicament. It turned into a full-on smile as she heard him swear under his breath.

"You need some help there?" she asked, watching him struggle to remove his t-shirt, his efforts hampered by the pain in his ribs.

She didn't wait for a reply as she pulled the offending garment over his head. "There you are," she said giving him an appraising look.

There was something quite cute about him sitting on the side of his bed in nothing but boxer shorts. She took a moment to admire his lean frame before handing him the pills and a glass of water.

She gently pushed him down to the pillows and covered him with the sheet. She busied herself for a short while before returning with a cold cloth and placing it over his eyes.

She made herself comfortable under the sheets.

"Uh, Calleigh. You're in my bed."

"Don't worry, I'll keep my hands to myself," she reassured him. "For tonight, at least."

—

Content that Horatio was still asleep, Calleigh quietly crept from the bed and set about making coffee in the kitchen. She'd been as good as her word and had kept her hands to herself last night, even though the urge snuggle up close to Horatio had been strong. She'd settled for running a hand through his hair as he slept in an attempt to lessen the pain the headache was causing him.

Lost in her thoughts, the sound of the doorbell startled her. Rushing to the hallway before it could ring again, she opened the door and was surprised to find Alexx on the other side.

"What are you doing here?" Calleigh asked, standing to one side for her colleague to enter.

"I could ask you the same thing, sugar," Alexx retorted as she followed Calleigh to the kitchen. "I thought I'd come to check up on Horatio."

"He's still sleeping."

"At 9am?"

The two women shared a look. Both of them knew that Horatio was a notoriously early riser. Staying in bed past 6am was not something he did.

"So, what gives, Calleigh?"

The question caught her off-guard. "I'm sorry?"

"I half expected Horatio to be banging on my door demanding that he be allowed to go back to work by now. I haven't heard a peep from him and now you tell me he's sleeping in this morning. Are you slipping something in his coffee?"

The words were tinged with wry amusement, both women aware that Horatio was not a patient man, especially when it came to his own health and wellbeing.

"Maybe it's just my good old Southern charms?" Calleigh suggested as she smiled at her colleague.

"Either that or the boy has it bad for you," Alexx shot back, her eyes widening as she noticed Calleigh blushing.

Suddenly, the pieces fell into place for Alexx.

"Wait, have you been here all night?"

Calleigh felt herself blush again. "Not in the way that you think."

The two women were looking at each other when a soft groaning caught their attention.

"I'll go and check on the patient," Alexx said, grabbing her medical kit and calling over her shoulder as she left the kitchen. "Then you can tell me _all_ the juicy details."

"Well, hello there," Alexx smirked as she entered Horatio's bedroom, watching as he attempted to sit up in bed.

"Alexx, what are you doing here?"

Sitting down next to him, she bent down to reach for a pair of latex gloves from her bag. "I haven't heard from you in days. I was worried something had happened to you."

Horatio sighed. "I've been doing what you've told me to. I behave myself and you think something is wrong with me?"

"Honey, that's _exactly_ my point," Alexx chuckled, snapping on the gloves. "You couldn't lay low and do as you're told if your life depended on it."

Horatio huffed his displeasure. "Have you just come here to insult me?"

Now it was Alexx's turn to reveal her frustration. "Don't get shirty with me just because I'm the only one who stands up to you. Someone needs to tell you when you're being a royal pain in the ass." Alexx arched her eyebrow, daring him to respond. "Now, follow my finger with your eyes."

Having dutifully followed Alexx's commands for the past several minutes, Horatio was beginning to grow tired of her continued poking and prodding.

"Ow," he remarked as Alexx pressed on a decidedly sore spot on his ribcage.

"Does it still hurt?"

"Only when you poke me there," he replied testily.

"How are the headaches?"

He'd debated lying to her, yet he knew Calleigh would mention last night, even if he didn't.

"I'm still getting them," he replied reluctantly. "You're not going to let me back to work any time soon, are you?"

She almost felt sorry for him, especially when he gave her the patented 'Horatio' puppy dog eyes.

"You have an appointment at the hospital on Wednesday?" she asked, removing her gloves and satisfied with her patient's condition.

Horatio nodded his head.

"Get your doctor to call me afterwards. We'll talk about you coming back - "

She saw the way his face lit up at her words and held a hand up to stop him from talking.

"It'll be desk duty only. The furthest you'll be allowed is your office and the lab."

"Alexx - "

She stopped him with another glare. "It's not up for discussion. It's desk duty or nothing, you understand?"

He attempted to give her his wounded look again.

"Forget it, Horatio. Unless you want to stay at home for a few more weeks. I'm sure that can be arranged…"

He held a hand up in defeat. "Ok, you win."

"I always do, sugar," Alexx retorted, snapping shut her bag.

Her eyes softened as she took in his ruffled appearance.

"Now, come here and give me a hug," she said, motioning him forward and enveloping him in a gentle embrace, being mindful of his ribs.

He felt the sharp tap on his shoulder as they disengaged.

"Ow," he said, holding his left arm and giving Alexx a sour look. "What was that for?"

"Since when do you hold out on me?"

He was confused by the sudden change in Alexx's demeanour. "What are you talking about?"

"Why didn't you tell me about you and Calleigh?"

"What about us?"

Alexx huffed, folding her arms across her chest. "Well, you could have told me that there was an 'us' to begin with."

"Alexx - "

"How long has it been going on for?"

Horatio squirmed slightly. "Just a few days," he said quietly. "How did you know?"

"Calleigh's walking around your kitchen wearing a t-shirt that's way too big for her and both sides of your bed look like they've been slept in. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out."

"Uh…um," Horatio stuttered, feeling his cheeks flame.

"Either you 'fess up or I'll go and ask Calleigh. Either way, I want to know _all_ the details…"

—

"Everything ok?" Calleigh asked as she heard Alexx re-enter the kitchen.

"Horatio's fine. Stubborn, but fine," Alexx smiled, gratefully accepting the cup of coffee from her colleague. "I told him we'd consider desk duty after his appointment next week."

"How did that go down?"

Alex rolled her eyes. "About as well as you'd expect it would with Mr Independent."

"You were in there a long time," Calleigh remarked as both women heard the shower being turned on.

"Horatio and I had some things to talk about," Alexx said casually as she took a sip of her coffee. "I know about the two of you."

The comment caught Calleigh by surprise. "He told you?"

"I dragged it out of him...eventually."

"Alexx - "

"I'm happy for you both," Alexx said, cutting her off. "He's been alone for too long. I'm glad he's finally letting someone in."

"We're taking it slowly. I don't think either of us want to get hurt."

"I know, sugar. That's why I'm only going to say this once. If you hurt that man…so help me…"

If she'd had any doubt before, Alexx's response showed just how deeply the M.E cared for Horatio.

"I get it, Alexx. You'll know exactly where to bury the body."

"Good," Alexx said, nodding her head. "I'm glad we're all on the same page now."

Horatio's soft voice took them both by surprise as he walked into the kitchen.

"What page would that be?"


	2. Chapter 2

"Morning, Eric."

Horatio's low voice had caught him off guard. Walking into the break room after a particularly heavy night out, finding Horatio hiding in the shadows in the corner had not been what he'd expected.

"You're back?" the younger man asked, nodding his gratitude for the cup of coffee that had been handed to him by his superior.

"Were you expecting someone else?" Horatio asked, a hint of wry amusement in the question.

Eric shook his head. "I thought it would be at least a couple of weeks before they'd let you come back."

Horatio frowned. "I won't be out in the field until they've cleared me."

Eric grinned, knowing how impatient Horatio would be to get back in the saddle and back out on the streets of Miami.

"Hey," Speed remarked as he helped himself to a cup of coffee. It had been the type of welcome Horatio had been expecting from the dour Tim Speedle.

"Indeed," Horatio agreed, placing his hands on his hips, missing the feel of his ID card and badge. "What have I missed?"

Eric had begun running down a list of the lab's current cases when Calleigh entered the room.

"Are you boys starting without me?" she asked, elbowing Eric playfully. "No fair."

Speed shrugged his shoulders. "Just giving H and update on what we've been working on."

"We even saved you some coffee," Eric supplied, grinning.

"See how well drilled I have them?" Calleigh teased, glancing at Horatio.

"I do," he replied, a small smile tugging at his lips. "It seems I'm not needed here. I'll make a start on the pile of paperwork that you've left me, ma'am."

"Hang on a sec," she called out to him. "I have something for you."

His eyes caught the glint of light that shone off his badge. He took the ID card and gold shield from Calleigh and clipped them to his belt.

"Feels better?"

"Much," he replied as he gave the team one last look. "I'll be in my office if anyone needs me."

"I wasn't expecting to see him back so soon," Eric said, watching his superior leave.

Calleigh let out a dramatic sigh. "I'm fairly sure Alexx and his doctor thought it would be less stressful if he was actually doing something. Besides, she can keep an eye on him when he's here."

"He's gonna love that," Speed remarked.

"She's chaining him to the lab and his desk for the time being."

"I can imagine how well that went down," Eric mused.

"So keep any talk of fieldwork to a minimum for now. You know how he'll want to be out there front and centre."

"Yes, boss," Speed said, draining the last of his coffee.

—

"Having fun?" Calleigh asked, poking her head around the door to Horatio's office.

He grimaced as he took in the pile of case files and reports on his desk. "Is it me, or has it got busier since I've been away," he groused, dropping another file into his 'out' tray. "I don't remember having this much paperwork to do before."

Calleigh gave him what she hoped was her most sweet and innocent smile.

"You did keep on top of the paperwork, didn't you?"

"Of course I did, but I wanted to make sure you'd have something to keep you occupied when you came back, too."

"Hmmm. You and Alexx have been plotting against me, I see."

"Well, someone needs to make sure you're being reasonable."

"You think I'm unreasonable?"

She could hear the tinge of hurt in his voice as he spoke.

Sensing that she'd hurt his feelings, she quickly replied. "You should hear the things Alexx calls you behind your back."

He let out a small groan at the thought. "I can imagine."

"Anyway," she said, changing the subject. "Speed's working on some trace evidence downstairs. I was wondering if you wanted a break from the paperwork for a while?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Horatio said, closing the file he was holding and following her from the room.

—

"Ok, time's up," Alexx said as she let herself into Horatio's office.

He glared at her. "I still have work to do."

"I'm sure it's nothing that can't wait until tomorrow."

Horatio sighed. "I'm already weeks behind as it is."

"So another night won't hurt."

"Alexx - "

"You can't catch up on everything in a day, Horatio. Not even you."

He shot her a sour look before pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm fine."

"Yeah, and I'm the Pope," Alexx shot back, folding her arms across her chest. "Go home. Now."

Perhaps she was right. The headache that had started as an annoying throb had slowly turned into a thumping pain behind his eyes. Yet he'd needed to push himself today. After weeks of doing nothing, he needed to feel useful.

"I get it, sugar," Alexx said, guiding him from the office. "You've done enough for today. It'll all still be here tomorrow."

—

Horatio felt his phone buzz as he entered his house. He smiled as he looked at the caller ID.

"Good evening," he said, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips.

"You're home?" the female voice asked.

"I am," he replied, "but I have a feeling that you knew that already."

He could hear her laugh softly. "I have no idea what you mean."

"I know you and Alexx are ganging up on me, Calleigh."

She could hear the tinge of mild annoyance as he spoke. Horatio would not tolerate being coddled by anyone.

"She cares about you, Horatio. We all care about you."

The silence seemed to stretch between them.

"I know," he replied quietly. "It's not something that I'm used to. I am trying though…I did warn you that I'm not the easiest person to know."

"It's a good job that I like a challenge then."

"Calleigh - "

"What are your plans for tonight?" she asked, cutting him off from whatever he had been about to say.

He let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose and feeling his head pound. He was not going to admit to how bad he felt, knowing that Calleigh and Alexx would force him to stay away from work for longer if he did.

"Make myself something to eat, read for a while and then bed," he lied. "How about you?"

"I was gonna watch a movie but it doesn't seem right if you're not here."

He could hear the longing in her voice. He was painfully aware that he felt the same way. They had only spent a few days together and he was already finding himself consumed with thoughts of her. His house seemed far emptier without her in it.

"It'll be Saturday soon enough," he tried to reassure her. "What are your plans for the weekend?"

Calleigh paused for a moment before replying. "I was hoping that you and I could go back to that spot on the beach. It's beautiful there...and quiet."

He knew exactly the spot she was referring to - the night he'd found her in tears in the break room after her father had once again drunk himself into a stupor.

"That sounds like an excellent idea," he agreed. "Although you'll have to promise me one thing."

"Which is?"

"You let me buy you dinner. I know a place that does a great jambalaya."

"Be still my beating heart. You sure know how to woo a Southern lady."

She heard that sexy rumbling laugh of his.

"So it's a date?" he asked, unaware that he was gripping his phone tightly.

"It is."

—

Calleigh would lecture him if she'd witnessed tonight's dinner. The pounding in his head was making his stomach roll painfully and the most he'd been able to manage had been some leftover chicken and a salad he'd thrown together.

Despite his best efforts, every time he attempted to read a chapter from the book Calleigh had given him the words swam across the page, to the point that he couldn't focus on anything.

He'd placed the book down on the bedside table, thrown a couple of painkillers in his mouth and swallowed them, sighing in frustration.

Within minutes he was deeply asleep.

—

 _The first blow had come from behind and taken him by surprise. He felt the air rush from his lungs painfully as he fell to his knees before his face was grabbed roughly by the man who had set up the meet._

 _"_ _What's the message?" he managed to ask as he gasped for breath, instantly knowing that the answer would be both painful and unpleasant._

 _The force of the backhand across his face made his ears ring. He could feel the blood filling his mouth as he looked at his attacker._

 _"_ _Stop looking."_

 _Another blow from behind had sent him to his hands and knees. Blows were coming from all angles and he knew he was in trouble. Against one or two he might have stood a chance, but there were too many of them._

 _He threw punches wildly at his attackers and felt at least a few of them make contact. As soon as his fist had connected with one attacker, another sent more punches and kicks his way._

 _His body was beginning to throb as his ability to defend himself slowly drained away with each blow that landed._

 _He'd made a grab for his gun as another kick sent him back to his hands and knees. He suddenly felt a bolt of pain shoot through his left hand as someone stamped on it._

 _This was it. He was going to die here._

 _The beating stopped momentarily as he felt himself being hauled against the side of his Hummer, his head making contact with the side of the vehicle. He could barely keep his eyes open and everything seemed blurry and distorted. He could feel the blood running down his face. He tried to take a good look at his attackers in the unlikely event that he got out of this alive. He'd need to ID them for sure._

 _There was something familiar about one of them. Through the ringing in his ears, he'd heard one of the men shout out. There was something familiar about the voice - was it the accent he recognised?_

 _"_ _Come on, man," the voice had said. "That's enough. You've made your point."_

 _"_ _It's enough when I say it's enough," the other man had snarled._

 _"_ _He's no threat to you," the familiar voice pleaded again. "Please, you gave me you word!"_

 _The other man laughed. "Then more fool you."_

 _The hands holding him upright suddenly let go. Unable to support his own weight, his legs collapsed beneath him as he fell back down into the dirt. The punches and kicks began flying in again and this time he could do nothing but try to curl into a ball and protect himself._

 _He saw the vague outline of a boot before everything went black._

Horatio shot up in bed, gasping and holding his ribs as he tried to get his breathing under control.

His memories of the attack had been fractured and split since he'd woken up in hospital several weeks ago. Perhaps Calleigh had been right, maybe his mind was blocking the details of what had happened that night.

Try as he might, he had never been able to give an accurate account of what his attackers had looked like. Even in his dreams their faces had been blurred.

In all of the flashbacks he'd experienced regarding that night, he'd never once recalled any of the men pleading with the others to stop. It had always been the same - all of them had jumped in on him and shown him no mercy. They had simply beat him until he stopped moving. They had left him out on a deserted road to die.

Why would one of them have second thoughts?

Her knew that he'd made a nuisance of himself with the local drug runners since Ray's death. He'd been determined to get to the truth and prove beyond doubt that Ray hadn't been dirty. It hadn't mattered if he'd pissed people off along the way.

The truth would prevail, in the end.

It made no sense that one of them would plead for the others to show mercy. Surely it would have been in all of their interests to kill him.

So why hadn't they?

The voice seemed familiar to him, yet he couldn't place it. There was something about the way the man spoke that he recognised. The man's thoughts and actions seemed at odds with the rest of his attackers.

Whoever had set him up had known details about Ray that proved they had known the man while he was alive. It seemed a logical assumption that someone close to Ray had been behind this.

He might not be cleared to be out in the field yet, but that didn't mean that he couldn't dig deeper into what had happened to him that night. It was an inside job, it had to be.

If there was a mole inside the department, one way or another he would find them and make them pay.


	3. Chapter 3

"You're in early," Speed remarked as he let himself into the break room, watching as his superior vainly attempted to open a fresh bag of coffee.

Speed had known Horatio long enough to not offer any help until the man asked for it. Despite his outwardly quiet nature, Horatio had a fearful temper at times.

Speed's eyebrows shot up as he watched Horatio throw the bag of coffee onto the counter with an exasperated sigh.

"Well, that sure showed it," he deadpanned, watching the other man scowl at the cast still covering his left hand.

Horatio shot him his patented glare before his expression softened slightly.

"I swear," the lieutenant began as he raised his left arm slightly. "I'm going to cut this damn thing off myself."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Alexx will have your hide if she finds out."

Speed took pity on his boss by busying himself filling the coffee pot and allowing the liquid to percolate.

"When's it coming off?" Speed asked.

"Not for at least another two weeks," Horatio huffed. "I can't do anything with this damn thing on my hand."

And it was true. Speed recalled how his superior had struggled to pull a latex glove over the cast as he joined him in the Trace room yesterday. Had Horatio not been in a dark mood already, he would have smiled as he watched him struggle. Even processing evidence was tricky with one hand.

He knew that Horatio would stalk around the lab like a bear with a sore head until he was finally cleared to return to active duty. As much as he liked and admired his boss, the man could be almost impossible to deal with when things were out of his control. To not be leading his team from the front would eat at Horatio and make him less than pleasant company at times.

Speed had opened his mouth to reply when the sight of Yelina Salas caught his eye. He'd been about to warn Horatio when the door opened and the beautiful detective entered the room.

He could feel the tension between the two instantly.

"I'll, uh…I'll be in Trace if you need me, boss."

Horatio simply nodded his head.

"You're back," Yelina said, shutting the door behind Speed.

"I am," Horatio replied evenly.

He had ordered her to leave the last time they spoke. The clash between Yelina and Calleigh in his hospital room had been fierce. He'd commanded her to leave and true to her fiery nature, she had not spoken to him since. He had once found her temper an alluring quality, but in the years since Ray's death he had often felt her anger finding a target in him.

"How are you?" she asked as her stance softened toward him.

"Better."

He knew he was being deliberately obtuse with her, yet he couldn't help himself. How many times had she dangled a thread of hope in front of him, only to snatch it away when it suited her?

"I didn't see you at any crime scenes yesterday."

His countenance darkened at her words.

 _Damn Alexx and her rules!_

"I'm not cleared for full duty yet. There's some red tape that needs clearing up."

She knew exactly what he was referring to. Rick Stetler had made it clear that he would be involved in the internal investigation in to what happened to Horatio. Knowing Rick as well as she did, she was under no illusions that he would use it for his own personal gain if he could.

"I suppose you know that already," Horatio added, keeping his tone even.

"Meaning?"

"I think you know what I mean."

She stared at him as he stood with his hands on his hips.

"Rick and I are over," she said quietly, looking up at him through her long eyelashes.

She was surprised to not see a smile on his face.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"It wasn't working. I think we both had too much baggage to make it work."

She had expected him to tell her that she'd been a fool to date Rick in the first place. She'd only done it to hurt and anger the man she truly loved. Horatio would have been within his rights to claim the moral high ground.

"How is Ray Jr?" Horatio asked, intending to change the subject.

It was the one thing that still united them - the concern and love they shared for the young boy.

Yelina let out a humourless laugh. "He's glad. I don't think he really ever liked Rick."

Horatio raised his eyebrows and let out a quiet, "Hmmm."

The response was enough to clearly convey that he agreed with his nephew's assessment of the IAB officer.

"I was hoping that we could find some time to talk," Yelina said, taking a step toward him. "What I said at the hospital…I was out of line. I was angry and I took it out on you."

"Yelina - "

"Let me buy you dinner by way of apology."

"I can't."

She could feel her anger rising again. She had come here to make peace with him and here he was throwing it back in her face.

"You can't or you won't?"

"You don't understand - "

"Oh, I think I understand well enough," she huffed, turning for the door and finding herself face to face with Calleigh.

"Officer," Yelina said cooly.

"Detective," the blonde woman responded as she stood to one side, allowing Yelina to pass yet not breaking eye contact with her.

"Should I ask what that was about?" Calleigh prompted as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

"Probably best that you don't."

The grimace on Horatio's face made it clear that he did not wish to talk about it.

"Word's spreading that you're back then?"

"It appears so."

"I thought I'd give you a heads up that I saw Stetler earlier. I have a feeling he might be looking for you."

"He knows where he can find me."

"He kept sniffing around the lab when you weren't here," Calleigh said, handing him a cup of coffee. "He was looking for a reason to blame this on you."

"I've no doubt," he said as took a sip. "I can handle him, though."

"Good. This place hasn't been the same without you. We need you here… I need you here."

"Calleigh, you've done a great job keeping things going. It's why I chose you to be in charge."

She gave him a sad smile. "And I don't want it on a full-time basis. Just so you know…"

"Duly noted," he replied, giving her a shy smile. "I'll be in my office if anyone needs me."

She saw the square set of his shoulders as he left the room. If Rick Stetler tried to come after him, he would at least be ready for it.

* * *

"Detective," a male voice said, "I'm glad you could make it."

John Hagen said said nothing as he shut the door behind him. He wasn't even sure if he should be here right now.

Had it only been a few days ago that he had made the decision to come here?

He'd tried everything else to get the images to stop. Drugs, alcohol…. Nothing seemed to wash away the guilt that he felt. It was slowly consuming him, coming here had been his last resort.

Was he hoping to find some sort of salvation here?

Did he even deserve to be forgiven for what he'd done?

He had lied to so many people for so long, to the point that even he wasn't sure what was truth and what was fiction.

It had somehow all gone horribly wrong after Ray had died.

The two of them had gone through the academy together and despite their many differences in character and history, they had become firm friends from the start.

Much to the annoyance of Ray's older brother, no doubt.

He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he'd always had the feeling that Horatio had never trusted him. There had been subtle clues in the way the man had spoken to him, even in the way he had refused to look at him for more than a moment before averting his gaze.

He'd once asked Ray why his brother was so offhand with him and had been surprised at his friend's response.

"That's just the way he is," Ray had responded rather bluntly. "I learned to accept it a long time ago."

"So he's always had that stick up his ass?" John had asked.

He'd been shocked to see Ray's countenance darken. "There's a lot you don't know, John. Just leave it alone."

In all the time he had known Ray, it had been one of the only times that he had ever truly seen the man upset.

"I was only saying - " John had begun, only to be cut off.

"Yeah, well don't."

He'd never really brought the subject of Horatio up again unless Ray had raised it. He'd been there through the times that the two brothers had fought, first over Yelina and then over Ray's promotion and transfer to the Narcotics division. There had been times when the two brothers had barely spoken to each other in the years before Ray died.

And yet he couldn't deny that Horatio had been crushed by Ray's death.

He'd always seen the lieutenant as a confident man, almost to the point of arrogance, especially in front of criminals and suspects. The poise and posture of the man exuded an utter belief in himself and the cause he fought for. The day that the rumours of Ray's death surfaced, he had seen Horatio physically broken by the news. It seemed as if the man had aged ten years overnight and it had taken months for him to resume the confident posturing that he was so well known for.

If Horatio had treated him with disdain before Ray's death, he treated him with downright hostility afterwards. Even when he'd been dating Calleigh, somehow Horatio had never been too far away, watching and waiting for him to make a mistake.

He'd feared that they would have come to blows in the gun lab after he had confronted Calleigh for her father's actions several months ago when he had stuck his nose where it didn't belong, meddling in one of his cases. Horatio had inserted himself in their conversation and made it clear that he would defend his colleague physically if needed. The steely look in Horatio's eyes had unnerved him and so he had chosen to walk away, despite the anger he felt toward the woman whom he had serious feelings for.

Things had got steadily worse since then and with each day that passed his paranoia grew. It wasn't just Horatio who was watching and waiting for him to fail. His colleagues had started giving him strange looks. Conversations had stopped when he entered a room and it only served to fuel his belief that everyone around him knew what he'd been trying to hide for so long.

It had gotten to the point where he could no longer hide it and when each of his coping mechanisms had failed, he had resorted to something else, each one more destructive than the last.

The turning point had been the night that he'd taken his service pistol and raised it to his temple. After downing half a bottle of scotch, it had seemed like the perfect solution to his problem. Just one squeeze of the trigger and everything would stop. All of the images, the noises, the memories would disappear and he would be left in peace.

Something had stopped him from going through with it though.

Despite the fallout, he knew that he'd had no choice but to bring himself here. To knock on the door and enter into an uncertain future. Even speaking of this could signal the end of his career. If he confessed to everything that he had done, no one would ever trust him again. He would forever remain the black sheep of the department, the man that no one could trust.

They would ostracise him and he would have no choice but to quit a job that he had once loved so much. He had only ever wanted to serve and protect and yet somewhere along the way that had got twisted. He'd lost his way and made bad choices, choices that might end up costing him dear.

Despite the weight of the guilt he carried with him, there was still a small piece of the John Hagen that people thought they knew. There was still enough of that essence left to compel him to come here. If he let go of the tiny part of him that was still good and true, he would be forever lost.

That small part of the man he used to be had powered his tired and weary body, forcing him to put one foot in front of the other, even if those footsteps became the death knell to his career. Maybe he'd come here seeking absolution or maybe he'd believed he'd find some sort of reasoning for the choices he had made.

Maybe he could never make things right, but some small part of his troubled psyche urged him, for the sake of Ray's memory if nothing else, to try.


	4. Chapter 4

"You ready?" Calleigh asked, watching as Horatio buckled himself into the passenger seat of her car.

"Whenever you are," he replied, giving her a shy smile.

The last few days at work seem to have dragged as far as Calleigh was concerned. It was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain the facade of professionalism with him when they were at work.

She had tried not to hover over him too much as he settled back into the more mundane aspects of police work - namely the amount of paperwork that came with being a shift supervisor. She knew better than to coddle him and that he would not tolerate her constant checking up on him, no matter how well intentioned.

She'd had to satisfy herself with a few stolen moments when they'd been the only people in the break room. They had sat side by side on the couch, sipping their coffees in companionable silence.

"Are you still ok for tomorrow?" he'd asked her quietly yesterday afternoon.

To her trained investigators ear, it sounded as if he were nervous.

"About that…" she began, a smile creeping across her face as she saw his eyes widen. "Of course I am. Did you think I was gonna blow you off?"

He'd grimaced at the thought. "It had crossed my mind. You probably have a lot of men asking you out on dates."

She rolled her eyes. "Even if I did, there's only one man I'm interested in."

She saw the sliver of a smile cross his features. "Who might that be?"

She repositioned herself on the couch to look at him, here eyes roaming his body. "Well, he's this tall, handsome man…"

"Really?" he responded, playing along with her teasing.

"He's kind of charming and he has great taste in movies..."

"He sounds like a catch."

Her eyes lit up as she unconsciously licked her lips. "Oh, he definitely is."

The way her tongue had slid seductively over her lips had almost sent him over the edge. It took all of his self control not to jump on her there and then...

"Watcha thinking about?" Calleigh asked, shaking Horatio from his pleasurable memory.

He looked at briefly before returning his gaze to the road ahead, knowing it would be a giveaway as to his embarrassment.

"I'm just thinking how lucky I am."

"Oh?" Calleigh replied, keeping her eyes on the road. "Why's that?"

He squirmed slightly in his seat. "I'm not sure you'd want to know why."

"Why don't you try me?"

He let out a deep sigh as he kept his gaze straight ahead. "For the first time in a long time, I feel...I don't know...happy, I suppose?"

The sadness in his voice broke her heart. How long had he been traveling his lonely road alone?

He suddenly knew that confessing his feelings would make her feel sorry for him. There were lots of things he wanted from her, but her pity wasn't one of them.

"Don't feel bad for me," he said, preempting anything she might have said in response. "It's been my choice to be alone. This is all on me."

"Why?" she asked.

"I'm sorry?"

"Why choose to be on your own?"

He took a moment to consider his response. "I'm not good at letting people in. Most people get bored of trying to figure me out after a while. I can be hard work when I want to be."

"I won't."

"You won't what?"

"Get bored of trying to figure you out," she responded. "I'm not going to throw away what we have just because it gets a little messy."

He sighed again. "It could get _a lot_ messy. And it might not be pretty."

"I'm not exactly perfect either."

"I don't want perfect, Calleigh."

"Neither do I. All I want is someone who loves me for who I am."

"And there's a whole lot about you to love," he said quietly.

"I know you don't think it, but there's a whole lot to love about you too, Horatio. I'll love you even when you're being hard work."

He couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. "There might be several times when we test that theory. I'm just warning you…"

—

"This is as beautiful as I remember it," Calleigh said as they made themselves comfortable on the sand, watching as the gulls swooped over the water.

Horatio had been pensive and quiet since their drive to the beach. He'd fiddled with his sunglasses several times - a testament to his unease.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" she asked as he lifted his arm and pulled her body towards him.

"Alexx gave me 'the talk' when she came to visit."

Calleigh knew instantly which visit he was referring to - the one where she'd made a house call to Horatio's house after not hearing from him for days.

"She said something that stuck with me. I can't get it out of my head."

"What did she say?"

Calleigh suddenly felt nervous.

Horatio ran his free hand through his hair, growling as the cast got in the way.

"She told me that if I ever hurt you…"

She could gather how that sentence had ended. Alexx had given her pretty much the same talk that day.

"I'm scared of hurting you, Calleigh."

"You could never do that."

He sighed. How could he make her understand?

"Not intentionally, no… I'm belligerent, stubborn and as Alexx likes to say, 'an emotionally closed off pain in the ass'."

"She told you that?"

"Several times." he replied. "There's something in me that pushes people away when they get too close. I guess I distance myself so that they don't get hurt," he shrugged.

"Or that's what you tell yourself."

Calleigh felt him flinch.

"Are you pushing them away for your sake or theirs?"

She felt the air rush out of him and knew that her words had hit home.

"My life's a car crash, Calleigh."

"You've been hurt?"

He nodded as he rested his chin on the top of her head. "Too many times. I'm not sure how capable I am of being in love…or loving someone."

How could he possibly think he was incapable of loving another person?

How many times had she seen him interact with his nephew or support the grieving parents or widows during the loss of a loved one? His empathy and emotional connection with victims were a testament to how deeply he cared.

"That's why I want you to go into this with your eyes open, Calleigh. I want you to know what you're getting yourself into before it's too late."

"You think I'd walk away just because it gets too hard?"

"Most people do," he said quietly.

"I promise I won't if you'll do one thing for me in return."

"I'll do my best."

She manouvered herself so that she could look him in the eye. "I want you to promise me that you'll try."

"Try?"

"Promise me that you'll try to let yourself be loved…that you'll let me in, even if you think it's too dark or too messy. I want to see it all."

He looked uncertain, yet he couldn't doubt the sincerity in her words.

"I promise I'll try."

She leant forward and rewarded him with a searing kiss as his arms wrapped tightly around her.

—

"This is the place?" Calleigh asked as they stood outside a small restaurant, a short walk from the beach they'd enjoyed the afternoon on.

"It is," he replied, holding the door open before following her inside.

"Horatio, it is so good to see you, chere!"

He quickly found himself enveloped in a tight embrace. Tight enough that it made him groan in pain.

The dark-skinned, middle-aged woman released him instantly and held him at arms length, taking in his appearance.

"Oh no, what happened to you?"

He shrugged awkwardly.

"It's nothing."

"Does the one who did this to you look worse?"

He grimaced. He'd rather not recall what had happened that fateful night.

"Sadly not."

She waved a hand dismissively at him and turned her attention to the blonde woman by his side.

"And who might this lovely lady be?"

Horatio suddenly felt awkward - how would he introduce Calleigh to her? As his girlfriend?

He cleared his throat before replying. "This is Calleigh Duquesne," he said, placing an arm on the small of her back. "She's my…uh…girlfriend." He glanced at Calleigh briefly, looking for any signs that he'd been too forward in his assumptions about their current relationship.

"Calleigh, this is Delphine Dubois. She and her husband Francois own this restaurant."

Delphine smiled at the pair of them. "Duquesne, now that's a Louisianna name if ever I heard one."

"Born and raised," Calleigh replied with a smile.

"And how did you end up with this young man, chere?"

"We, uh…work together," Horatio supplied, feeling awkward as Delphine ushered them to a table with a sea view.

"You've managed to distract this one from his work?" Delphine asked with a smile.

"It's a long story," Horatio interjected before Delphine could fire any more questions at Calleigh.

"And I shall get all the details before the end of the night, no?"

Delphine handed them both a menu, giving Calleigh a conspiratorial smile before walking away.

"Well, she's quite forward," Calleigh said as she perused the menu.

Horatio grimaced. "That would be an understatement."

"She seems to know you quite well."

Calleigh knew she was fishing for information and wondered how much Horatio would reveal without a little gentle prodding.

"I've known Delphine and her husband since I moved to Miami. They're good people."

She could see that he was beginning to become uncomfortable at the direction of the conversation and decided to change the subject. He'd already opened up to her today more than he ever had and it was best not to push him. She was in this for the long haul after all.

"What do you recommend?"

Horatio responded instantly. "The jambalaya."

She smiled at him. "Any particular reason?"

He shifted slightly in his seat before twirling the stem of his wine glass. "It's the best in the city," he began, before pausing for a beat. "It was the first meal we shared together when we were in New Orleans, too."

Her face must have registered her surprise as he tore his gaze from her and out toward the sea.

Had he been studying her as much as she had him?

Had they both secretly yearned for each other all these years?

"Are you ready to order?" Delphine asked, reappearing at the table.

Horatio looked at Calleigh. "Ladies first."

"We'll both have the jambalaya," she said with a smile. "I've heard it's to die for."

"I'd recommend the house red wine to go along with it," Delphine encouraged.

Calleigh held a hand up. "I'm driving, so I better not."

Delphine turned her attention to Horatio. "And for you, chere?"

"Just a beer, thanks."

"Coming right up," Delphine replied, placing her pad back into her apron and making her way to the kitchen.

"You drink?" Calleigh asked, somewhat surprised.

He gave her a humourless smile. "As much as it might surprise you, I'm not a total bore."

"So I'm beginning to find out."

—

"Wow, you were right about the food," Calleigh said, placing her cutlery down and wiping her mouth with a napkin. "That was delicious."

Horatio took another swig from his bottle of beer. "Do you have room for desert?"

He looked at her intently.

Maybe he didn't want this night to end either?

As they enjoyed their meal, it struck Calleigh that she had never seen Horatio look so relaxed. They had shared easy conversation as they ate. She had rarely seen him look so laid back and comfortable in his own skin.

"How about we share one?" Calleigh suggested, unconsciously rubbing her bottom lip with her thumb, unaware that her movements were having a significant effect on him.

He swallowed nervously. "Sounds good. You'll have to excuse me for a moment," he said as he stood. "I'm happy with whatever you decide."

Delphine made her way over to their table as she watched Horatio make his way to the bathroom.

"You're good for him, chere," she said as she began stacking their plates. "He looks happy."

"You've known him for a long time?" Calleigh asked.

Delphine held the plates close to her body. "Since he moved here."

"How did you meet?"

Delphine smiled at the memory. "We had some trouble with a local group who didn't take kindly to having coloured folks in their neighbourhood. One night, they broke in and took a baseball bat to the place. They broke anything they could get their hands on."

"That's awful. I'm so sorry."

Delphine waved her concern away. "It was a long time ago, chere. Horatio was the detective in charge of the case. He caught the people responsible for it and Francois and I thought that would be the last we'd see of him. His job was done when he came to give us the news. We thanked him and wished him well and then he turned up at the restaurant the next day with several of his colleagues from the department. They spent their day off helping us clear up."

If she had any doubt before as to what type of man she was falling in love with, now she was certain that entrusting her heart to him had been the right decision.

"Horatio turned up every day after that to help out with the repairs, even after a night shift as a detective, until we were ready to open again. He's been a regular here ever since."

"You care about him a lot," Calleigh observed.

"Would you mind?" Delphine asked as she motioned to Horatio's vacant seat.

"By all means."

"Francois and I were never able to have children," she began, a sad smile crossing her weathered features. "Horatio has been through a lot since he came here and from what he's let slip occasionally, things were not easy for him as a child either."

Horatio had always remained tight-lipped about his past - a subject that still remained off topic for them for now.

"When his brother died…. We hadn't seen in him in days and then we heard on the news about Raymond. We saw him walking on the beach one night after closing and I swear, I have never seen him look so lost…so broken."

Calleigh said nothing, allowing Delphine to continue at her own pace.

"Francois had to almost drag him inside. He looked like he hadn't eaten or slept for a week." The memory brought tears to Delphine's eyes, even now. "We sat him down…forced him to eat a good meal. Francois brought a bottle of brandy out thinking that it might raise Horatio from whatever hell he was locked in. The brandy seemed to work and to this day, it's the only time I've ever seen Horatio truly upset."

Delphine reached across the table and took Calleigh by the hand. "He's a good man, chere. Be patient with him, ok?"

Calleigh could feel the tears well up in her own eyes. "I will."

Delphine wiped her own tears away. "You're the first woman he's ever brought here. He must be serious about you."

"You think so?" Calleigh asked hopefully.

"I've told you, chere, he's like family to us and I think he feels the same way…even though he never says it. He would never introduce us if he didn't think you were the one. He's had a few relationships here and there from what I've heard. They've never lasted long enough for him to bring them here."

The sound of Horatio clearing his throat took both women by surprise.

"Thank you for keeping my seat warm, Delphine," he said with a hint of humour in his tone. "I see the pair of you have been talking. Anything interesting?"

Delphine scoffed. "Just women talk, that's all."

Horatio reclaimed his seat. "Oh, I don't doubt it."

—

Pulling up outside Horatio's house, he turned to Calleigh and asked. "Would you like to come in for that bottle of wine now?"

She wasn't quite sure if she'd understood him correctly. Was he asking her to stay the night?

"I'd love to," she replied without needing to think about it.

Settling on his couch, each with a glass of wine in their hand, Horatio turned to look at her.

"Did you enjoy today?" he asked shyly.

She ran a hand up and down his arm. "I loved it. Thank you for introducing me to Delphine. I know she means a lot to you."

"I hope she wasn't too forward with you. Subtlety has never been her strong suit," Horatio frowned.

"She cares about you a lot."

He shrugged awkwardly, never being comfortable with emotional conversations. "She and Francois are good people. They didn't deserve what happened to them."

"And neither did you," Calleigh replied, referring to the brutal attack he'd suffered several weeks ago.

"I suppose I should be grateful in a way."

Calleigh frowned at his statement. The animals that had set upon him had almost killed him.

He could see the confusion on her face.

"Maybe we would never have taken the next step if it hadn't been for what happened," he clarified. "Maybe it was the kick up the ass I needed," he mused. "In the metaphorical sense, obviously."

Taking the wine glass from him and setting it down on the table, she cupped his face in her hands and kissed him deeply.

He didn't need any encouragement to respond in kind as he leaned forward and gently laid her down on the couch, their hands exploring each other's body as their lips met.

Feeling his hormones get the better of him, Horatio broke away suddenly, his breath heaving. "Wait."

Calleigh was confused as to why he had stopped so suddenly. She could feel his desire as his body laid on top of hers.

"What's wrong?"

He took a deep breath. "I've waited so long for this. I want to do it properly."

He looked at her intently.

"I don't want a quick fumble on the couch. I want to love you properly...in my bed."

She smiled seductively at him as she rose from the couch.

"What are we waiting for then?"

She took his hand and led him to the bedroom.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" he asked as he placed his hands on her hips, pulling her close.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Just shut up and kiss me."

He did as she asked as he made a fervent assault on her face and neck as their hands pulled at each other's clothes. Her lifted her up, ignoring the pain in his ribs and gently laid them both on the bed.

"Calleigh, if this isn't what you want then we have to stop now. If we go any further I'm not sure I'll be able to control myself."

She kissed him again. "Don't stop," she said breathlessly. "I don't want you to ever stop."


	5. Chapter 5

Horatio smiled to himself as he opened his eyes, pleasantly surprised to find Calleigh's head resting upon his chest. He shuffled slightly as the pain in his ribs made its presence known once more. Perhaps he had been pushing it last night, but the discomfort had been worth it.

After waiting for so long to be with her, he'd been unaccountably nervous as to her reaction as they both came down from their high. A part of him feared that he had disappointed her in some way or that he didn't match up to her previous lovers, all of which were no doubt younger than him.

Her reaction as she regained control of her breathing had taken him by surprise.

"Oh my god," she breathed as she lay under him. "That was…fantastic."

He hadn't realised he'd been holding his breath, waiting for the words that would signify whether their union had been less than she'd been expecting.

He'd taken his time getting to know every facet of her body and had made sure he had met her needs before even thinking of his own.

"Was it worth the wait?" he'd asked nervously.

He'd moved onto his back and cradled her head on his chest.

"Why the hell did we wait so long?" she'd asked him as she ran a hand up and down his chest.

He frowned, but decided to answer her honestly. "I wasn't sure that you would be interested in someone like me."

She couldn't keep the surprise from her voice. "Why would you think that?"

He sighed deeply. "I'm older, for a start."

She lifted her head so that she could look him in the eye. "It's only ten years. It's not like you snatched me from my cradle. I'm a grown woman, you know." She rolled her eyes at him.

She could hear the rumble of his soft laugh in his chest.

"Besides, I thought I wasn't your type," she admitted quietly.

"Really?"

Now it was her turn to be nervous and unsure. "I always figured there was something going on between you and Yelina."

He tensed momentarily. "Maybe years ago that might have been the case. She's family to me, nothing more."

Calleigh laid her head back down on his chest. "Shall we both agree that we were stupid to hide from each other for so long?"

He kissed the top of her head. "No one could ever accuse you of being stupid, Calleigh. How about we just admit that we were both too shy to tell each other how we really felt?"

She kissed the hand that held her face. "Sounds good."

"Hey there," Calleigh said, opening her eyes, delighted to find herself still in Horatio's arms.

It made her smile to think that he'd worried that his ministrations last night had disappointed her in some way. In fact, she had asked him to repeat the process twice more so that she could get an accurate gauge of his abilities - or so she had told him…

Realising that she was awake, he placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

"Morning."

She ran a finger up and down his chest. "Hey."

He tensed suddenly. "You don't have any regrets about what happened last night?"

She pushed herself up on one elbow to look at him. "Of course not. Do you?"

He shook his head and she could see the sincerity written clearly on his face.

"It was great," she added as she resumed her previous position. "I guess it's true what they say about redheads..."

She was no shrinking wallflower and had been with her fair share of men, but none of them had loved her in the way Horatio had last night. Every time his lips or fingers came into contact with her…it was enough to set her skin on fire.

He had led a tortuous assault on her body and just when she thought she would explode, he had done something else to to take her to greater heights.

Too many of the men she had dated had been consumed with their own needs and gratification, but Horatio had taken his time and made sure that he had satisfied her needs before his own. None of her other lovers came closed when compared to him.

"Is there anything you'd like to do today?" he asked her, thankful that it was Sunday.

"Would you think less of me if I said that I didn't want to get out of this bed?"

She felt the laugh in his chest before she heard it. "I'm sure we could find something to do in bed that would while away the hours. I'm sure I have a Scrabble board around here somewhere," he teased.

She rolled on top of him quickly, leaving no doubt as to where her thought processes were leading her. Her lips were suddenly on his as he felt her hands roam his chest, before snaking their way further down his body.

* * *

"Hey, H, have you got a minute?" Eric asked, approaching the reception desk.

Horatio nodded his thanks to Paula as he collected a handful of memos that had been taken in his absence during the weekend.

"For you, Eric, always." Horatio smiled, following his young charge down the corridor and toward the evidence room.

"Speed and I are working on a car bomb that went off in South Beach last week. I've been looking at the fragments we collected and I can't seem to make any sense of it."

Horatio shrugged his lab coat on and frowned momentarily. "Was anyone hurt?"

"The owner of the vehicle was killed and three bystanders were seriously injured."

Perhaps it hadn't been the wisest thing to say as Eric caught the scowl that crossed Horatio's face. He would want to lead the investigation and his team from the front and it would eat at Horatio not to be able to do so.

Shrugging on his own coat, Eric continued. "I was hoping you could have a look at them and point me in the right direction."

Horatio had already placed himself in front of the bomb fragments recovered from the scene and had pulled a latex glove awkwardly over his left hand before picking up one of the pieces with a pair of tweezers.

Unsure of what to do, Eric hovered in the corner.

After 15 minutes of his young subordinate looking over his shoulder, Horatio pulled the gloves from his hands and let out a sigh.

"Anything?" Eric asked anxiously.

Horatio shook his head. "Not yet." He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a $20 note. "Can you do me a favour?" he asked as he held out the money.

"Sure."

"Can you go to the deli across the street and get me a bagel and a coffee?"

Eric smiled. "You skip breakfast again this morning?"

"Something like that. Make sure you get one for yourself while you're there, will you?"

"You got it boss."

"Hey, watch it," Speed said as Eric almost bumped into him in the corridor. "Where's the fire?"

Eric had the good grace to look embarrassed that he'd almost walked into his colleague. "Sorry, man. I wasn't looking where I was going."

Speed frowned. "What's the hurry anyway?"

"H has sent me on a bagel run. You know how he is on an empty stomach and no coffee."

Speed said nothing but a small smile tugged at his lips.

"What's so funny?" Eric frowned.

"You don't get it, do you?"

"Get what"

Speed patted his colleague on the shoulder affectionately. "He sent you away because you were getting on his nerves."

Eric looked nonplussed.

"He doesn't want to say it, but you hovering behind him pisses him off."

"I wasn't hovering, " Eric shot back defensively.

Speed handed him a $10 note and smiled. "Sure you weren't. Seeing as you're going that way, make mine a cream cheese and a latte."

* * *

"Hey," Calleigh smiled as she walked into the DNA lab.

"Well someone looks happy this morning," Maxine Valera remarked, putting down her tweezers. "I take it that you had a good weekend?"

"A girl never kisses and tells."

The comment ensured that Calleigh had her colleague's full attention.

"There was kissing?!"

Calleigh couldn't stop the blush from rushing to her cheeks. There had been a whole lot more than just kissing that had happened over the last few days...

Something had changed between her and Horatio on Saturday night. Finally, they both gave into the feelings they'd kept hidden from each other for so long. Saturday night had been great, but Sunday morning had been even better.

With no demands on their time, the two of them had simply laid in bed for most of the morning before having a leisurely lunch on Horatio's back porch. She had rarely seen him look so relaxed and carefree, so much so that after a couple of glasses of wine, they had engaged in a humorous attempt to get to know each other better.

"What do you want to know?" he'd asked her, an amused look on his face.

Feeling bold, she suggested something a little naughty. "How about a game of 'two truths, one lie'?"

He raised his eyebrows. "Ok, I'm game."

"You first," she prompted.

He took several moments before he began. "Ok, number one. My first collar as a beat cop in the NYPD was a naked, middle-aged hairy guy covered in maple syrup and goose feathers."

Calleigh couldn't help but laugh at the mental image that conjured. "And number two?"

"I once captained the MDPD basketball team. We won the interstate division in my first year."

Calleigh's eyes roamed his body. Despite being in his forties, he was still in better shape than most men half his age.

"And number three?"

Horatio let out a small laugh before taking a gulp of wine. "I once dated a woman twenty years older than me."

The shock must have registered on her face as Horatio dropped his gaze to his hands. He hadn't realised he'd been gripping the stem of his wine glass.

"So which one do you think is the lie?" he asked quietly.

"Do I get to ask questions?"

He smiled and nodded. "One for each statement."

"Ok," she laughed. "What did you arrest naked goose feather guy for?"

"Public indecency and lewd behaviour," he replied without missing a beat. "The desk sergeant had a fit when I brought him in. He made me clean all the squad cars in the precinct for a fortnight."

"What year did you win the interstate division, who did you beat?"

"You do know that's two questions, right?"

"Are you avoiding the question, lieutenant?"

He gave her a knowing look. "Not at all. We won it in 1997 and beat Pensicola in the final."

Calleigh already had a fair idea that Horatio's final statement was the lie, yet she asked the question anyway.

"How old were you when you dated an older woman?"

"Eighteen. She was my Mrs Robinson," he replied almost instantly. "Now you have to guess which one isn't true."

She thought on it for a moment or two. "It's number three, for sure."

His face gave nothing away as he looked at her.

"It's number three. It has to be."

Finally, he shook his head as the smile crossed his face. "It was number one. My first arrest was a drunk guy I caught jaywalking."

"An older woman?" she couldn't keep the surprise from her voice.

He frowned. "She was thirty eight. That's hardly old."

"But you were only eighteen!"

"And she was a very patient teacher. We dated for a year or so before she found someone…'more her age'."

"She took advantage of you," Calleigh insisted.

He looked at her with a serious expression on his face. "I was more than willing, trust me. She taught me a lot of things."

He caught her dubious expression.

"Besides, you weren't exactly complaining about what she taught me last night..."

She'd been shocked at his bold statement, but she realised that he had a good point. Last night had been more than she'd expected. Horatio had certainly known what he was doing when it came to the giving side of a physical relationship...

"Hey, earth to Calleigh," Valera said, clicking her fingers in front of her colleague's face. "Where'd you go?"

Calleigh shook herself from her thoughts. "Sorry. I got a little distracted. What were you saying?"

Valera tutted audibly. "Whoever this guy is, he must be special. You have that 'look' on your face."

"Look?"

Valera rolled her eyes. "The 'I got laid' look. So, who is it? Is it anyone I know?"

Calleigh shook her head. There was no way she could reveal who had put the dreamy smile on her face. The news would spread like wildfire throughout the department. Rick Stetler already had an axe to grind with Horatio and inter-department relationships were frowned upon, even more so between superior and subordinate.

"Well it isn't Hagen. He never put a smile like that on your face."

Calleigh blushed and handed Valera several envelopes. "Can you get these processed ASAP please?"

"I'll put them at the front of my queue if you tell me who your mystery man is," Valera offered hopefully.

Calleigh rolled her eyes. "As soon as you can please, Valera."

* * *

Feeling slightly embarrassed that Horatio had sent him away, Eric placed the paper bag down on the table in the break room.

"Did you get my cream cheese?" Speed asked, peering into the bag.

Eric glared and nodded his head.

Speed caught the look on his colleague's face. "Don't be sour about it, man. It took five bagel runs before I realised what H was doing when he sent me out."

The words were meant to make him feel better and yet Eric couldn't help but feel that he'd let his boss down in some way. Perhaps he was just being overprotective of the man since the attack.

"Are they bagels I smell?" Calleigh asked, entering the room.

Eric's heart began thumping in his chest as he realised he hadn't bought anything for her.

"Uh," he began, relieved to see Horatio walk into the room in time to save him from the wrath of Calleigh.

Ignoring the paper bag, Horatio dropped a file into Eric's lap.

"Your bomber is most likely a left-handed male in his late thirties or early forties. Chances are that this isn't the first explosive he's made."

Eric sat up straighter on the couch. "You got all of that from the bomb fragments."

Horatio smiled. "The wires were twisted anti-clockwise which suggests that the person who built the bomb was more than likely left-handed."

"How can you tell his age?"

"Have a look at the photos in the file," Horatio prompted.

One of the photos showed a magnified image of a circle with a smiling face that only became visible under UV lighting.

Horatio continued. "Those symbols were popular in the early nineties on the club scene."

Horatio frowned as he caught the look of surprise on Eric's face.

"Believe it or not, I was young once, Eric."

Feeling slightly abashed, Eric asked, "Anything else you can tell us about the bomb?"

"Whoever built it used a circuit board from a disposable cell phone. The device was designed to detonate when the cell's number was called. You know the time the bomb detonated?"

Eric nodded.

"Get Tyler to run a trace on any cell towers in the area and work backwards from there. Hopefully it will give you a starting point for tracking the guy down."

Eric looked at his boss gratefully. "Your bagel's on the table," he said as he nodded his head toward it.

Horatio followed his gaze and peered into the bag.

"Julie and the girls at the deli said to say 'hi' and that there's something extra in there for you."

Calleigh smiled as Horatio lifted the chocolate muffin from the bag, along with the coffee and bagel. He looked slightly embarrassed by the token of affection from the staff at the deli.

"Do you have a secret admirer?" Calleigh asked playfully.

Horatio glanced at her briefly and gave her a smile that only she could see, both of them knowing that they would have to keep their fledgling relationship under wraps for now.

"Their profits must have gone down in my absence," Horatio retorted, handing the muffin to Calleigh.

The easy atmosphere in the room was suddenly broken by a knock at the door.

Rick Stetler made his way into the break room, ignoring the scowls from most of its inhabitants and focusing his attention on one person.

"Horatio, a moment of your time, please."


	6. Chapter 6

Horatio listened to Rick's footsteps behind him as he made himself comfortable behind his desk.

He had never feared the IAB officer, yet the desk between them would form a barrier of sorts. It would stop him from launching himself at the slimy man if he was pushed too far.

"You're a hard man to track down," Rick said, shutting the door behind him.

"I've been here the whole time, Rick. Perhaps that's why you never made it as a detective."

Horatio could see that the jibe had hit home as he saw Rick scowl. It had been a cheap shot, but the way Rick had sauntered into the break room and demanded to talk to him had angered Horatio.

"I came to see you at the hospital," Rick began, taking a seat. "Your doctor said you weren't up for visitors."

Horatio said nothing except to look at his adversary.

"Seems you had several visitors while you were there. One in particular."

Rick left the sentence unfinished, hoping that it would enrage the lieutenant to the point of making a mistake. Discussions between the two of them had always been like a game of chess - each of them waiting for the other to stumble and make an error of judgement that the other could capitalise on.

"Is there a point to this, Rick?"

Sensing that Horatio would not rise to the bait, Rick opened the folder on his lap and got down to business.

"There's an internal investigation into what happened to you. I've been asked to lead it."

Horatio smiled. "I've no doubt."

Rick looked at him. "Why were you out in the middle of nowhere that night?"

Horatio sighed. "You've read Frank's report?"

Rick nodded.

"So you already know why I was out there."

"I want to hear it in your own words." Rick persisted. "Tell me what happened."

Horatio stared at the tape recorder Rick Stetler set on the desk.

"I had a call from someone saying they had proof that Raymond had been set up."

"Proof that your brother wasn't a dirty cop and a meth head?"

Horatio willed himself to keep his anger in check.

"Proof that would exonerate him. To stop people like you dragging his name through the mud."

Rick smiled, knowing that his goading remarks had an effect.

"Why did you go there alone? You know better than anyone that it's against protocol to meet a suspect alone."

"He wasn't a suspect. He was a potential witness," Horatio shot back.

"Come on, Horatio. Surely you knew that something wasn't right? You're not some wet behind the ears rookie. You're a seasoned cop and you fell for some bullshit line about your brother?"

Again, Horatio refused to rise to the bait. "Have you come here to pass judgement on my instincts?"

Rick broke eye contact first as he looked back down at his notes. "What happened when you got to the meet?"

Horatio let out a tired sigh. "I would have thought that was obvious."

Rick continued. "When did you realise that it was a set up?"

"Right about the time they started kicking the crap out of me."

The IAB officer glanced at Horatio. Whoever had attacked him had done a thorough job of it. He could tell by the way the lieutenant stiffly manoeuvred himself in his chair that he still wasn't fully recovered from the ordeal.

"Tripp says in his report that you can't recall what any of your attackers looked like."

The tone of Rick's voice implied that he found that hard to believe.

"All I saw were fists and feet."

"But you spoke to one of them before the beating started. You can't give a description of what he looked like?"

Horatio himself would have found that hard to believe had someone claimed the same, yet it was true. There was something preventing him from being able to recall the night clearly.

"No."

"Come on, Horatio. I think we both know that's bull."

"Believe me, Rick. If I knew who did this, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you about it. I'd be nailing their asses to the wall."

"Going off on your own again? Wasn't that how you got into this mess in the first place?"

"I was on my own time," Horatio countered. "I don't have to explain my actions to you.

"Except that you were in a department-issued vehicle and were carrying your department-issued firearm. What if either of those got into the wrong hands?"

"They didn't."

"But they could have. You put the reputation of this department at risk with your actions. I think you're spinning Frank Tripp a line that you can't remember what your attackers looked like."

"Prove it," Horatio scowled.

"How about you prove me wrong? Show me your medical records. Your doctor at the hospital won't let me near them."

And for good reason, Horatio thought.

It would get Rick off of his back for a while, but he refused to grant the man even the shallowest of victories.

"Get a court order and then you can do all the looking you want, Rick."

The IAB officer smiled smugly. "I might get that sooner than you think, Horatio," he said as he clicked the tape recorder off and placed it back in his jacket pocket. "I'll be watching you and the minute you make a mistake, I'll be on you before you know it."

"Is that meant to scare me?"

Closing the folder, Rick stood eye to eye with his adversary. "You might have the Chief fooled for now, but I know you, Horatio. You're a loose cannon and that damn team of yours would jump through walls for you. One day you're going to take a step too far and I'll be right there behind you to make sure it's your last."

Horatio let out a small chuckle. "I'm looking forward to it, Rick."

* * *

Horatio stood with his back to the office door, letting a frustrated breath out through his nose, wincing at the slight twinge of pain that it caused him.

He hadn't heard anyone enter the room until a soft cough caught his attention.

"What is it?" he growled without looking round.

"And hello to you too, Mr Sunshine," Alexx retorted.

The sound of his colleague's voice was enough to make Horatio face her quickly. His expression changing from anger to embarrassment in an instant.

He closed his eyes briefly, commanding himself to get control of his emotions. A head to head with Rick had never affected him this much before.

"Alexx, I'm sorry - "

The M.E waved her hand dismissively. "Forget it. I've just seen who left your office," she said, referring to the IAB officer stalking down the corridor. "Are you ok?"

He knew that she meant the words kindly, but he was getting fed up with everyone treating him with kid gloves. As much has he hated to admit it, he'd been struggling to control his emotions since the attack. Something about that night ate at him - there was a missing puzzle piece and the more he struggled to figure out what that was, the more frustrated he became.

He attempted to bury his frustration for now - despite his confrontation with Rick, there was no need to take it out on his colleagues.

"Was there something I can do for you?" he asked as he walked toward his desk, fully intent on doing some digging of his own.

Alexx gave him her biggest smile. "Can you come down to the morgue with me?" she asked, "I have something I need you to do."

"Alexx, I've got a lot of paperwork to catch up on," he replied, glancing at the pile of folders and reports he had yet to clear since his return several days ago. "Can't you get Speed or Eric to help you out if you need some muscle?"

Alexx snorted at that. "You think I came up here because I need a man's help?" She cocked an eyebrow at him. "You can barely tie your own shoelaces at the moment."

He scowled at her, knowing that she was right. He was no use to anyone right now. It only served to increase his need to look into his attack himself. If he could figure out who was behind it, he could bring them to justice.

"I have something to show you. And _only_ you."

—

Horatio had followed her down to the morgue in silence, his mind brooding.

Alexx tossed a lab coat in his direction before pushing open the doors.

He followed her in.

"Why are we here, Alexx?" he asked tiredly.

"I told you. I have something to show you," she replied as she glanced down at the clipboard in her hand. "You haven't been able to remember anything about the men who attacked you, have you?"

"You know that already," he growled. "I spent hours looking through mugshots with Calleigh. It's all just a blur."

"So this guy doesn't look familiar to you?" she said, pulling open one of the drawers housing the recently deceased.

He walked toward her slowly before taking a long look at the corpse laid out on the steel metal table. He spent several minutes looking at the man before letting out a defeated sigh.

"I have no idea who he is. I've never seen him before in my life."

"Are you sure?" Alexx asked.

Horatio nodded. "As sure as I can be. I didn't really see much apart from their boots," he added quietly.

Alexx handed him the clipboard and watched as his eyes widened. The post-mortem conclusions were almost identical to those of Raymond.

"Now do you see why I wanted you to come down here?"

It took a few moments for Horatio to regain his composure. He cleared his throat. "Who else knows about this?"

"Just you and I for now," Alexx responded. "Word is going to spread sooner or later. I wanted you to be the first to know."

Horatio nodded his head. "It's appreciated, Alexx." He gave her a small smile. "Have you sent biologicals to DNA yet?"

Alexx pushed the sliding drawer back into its compartment and clicked the door shut. "Already done. I asked Maxine to keep the results close to her chest for now. You think the DNA might match one of your attackers?"

Horatio shook his head. "I'm not sure. There's nothing familiar about him, but if he's involved in anything to do with Raymond or his death…I won't stop until I find the connection."

He felt Alexx's hand on his arm. "Just don't go off and do it by yourself. Let your team help you this time.

A small smile tugged at his lips. "I'll do my best, doctor."

She tutted at his belligerence. "Do more than that, they almost killed you, honey."

He gave her another ghost of a smile. "Next time, I'll be ready for them."

* * *

 _It felt good to be out with the boys, letting off a little steam after several weeks spent tracking down a well known drug runner in Miami. The days and nights spent casing out joints and running surveillance had started to take their toll on him. He was grateful that the case was finally tied up tight._

 _He'd barely seen his wife and child these past few weeks and he knew he should have headed straight home to see them. After being away for so long, what was another couple of hours anyway?_

 _It had started as a few drinks with his buddies from the Narcotics division, but they were soon joined by other officers and detectives at a well-known bar that most of the MDPD liked to frequent._

 _It had quickly turned into a party atmosphere. It had seemed that as soon as he'd finished one drink, someone else placed another in his hand. He'd lost count of how many he'd had, but it hadn't been enough that he missed the sight of his brother entering the bar._

 _"_ _What's your poison, Horatio?" Ray asked, waving a $20 bill at the barman._

 _"_ _Club soda," Horatio replied, giving his brother a disappointed frown. "Maybe you should have one too," he suggested as he nodded his thanks to the barman and took his drink._

 _"_ _Maybe if you weren't such a drag, you'd have a girlfriend by now."_

 _Horatio let the comment slide and continued to look at his brother._

 _"_ _Yelina and Ray Jr are at home waiting for you."_

 _Ray cocked an eyebrow as he took a swig of whiskey. "I'm sure you've been there keeping an eye on them," he snorted._

 _Ray saw the way his brother was looking at him - he had always been a disappointment to Horatio. Nothing he ever did would be right in his sibling's eyes._

 _"_ _They're not my responsibility, Raymond. You should go home."_

 _He angrily shrugged the hand off of his shoulder. "And maybe you should get out of here so the rest of us can have some fun."_

 _"_ _Is everything ok here?" John Hagen asked._

 _Ray glanced at his partner. It was the opportunity he needed to escape from his self-righteous brother before he smacked him straight in the face._

 _"_ _I need some air," Ray said, pushing past both men and out of the bar._

 _He'd hoped that he'd get a few moments peace and quiet as leaned against the exterior wall of the bar. He lit a cigarette and blew out the smoke in frustration._

 _Keeping to the shadows would soon not be enough to make a difference in Narcotics. There would come a point when he would need to go deeper undercover. The gangs he was trying to infiltrate would know if he was faking it and the only option had been to get himself accustomed to the drugs he was trying to take off the streets._

 _It had started with a bit of pot in college and as soon as he'd joined the police he'd cut it out entirely. Drug tests were routine in the force and even more so in Narcotics - unless you were so deeply undercover that you could get away with it._

 _To try crystal meth straight away would be foolhardy. He'd started by snorting a little cocaine every now and then - just enough to give him a buzz and dilate his pupils enough for everyone to think he was hitting the hard stuff. Pretending to tweak and frankenstien old transistor radios would be easy - it would be the physical effects of the drugs that would be hard to fake._

 _He was only snorting enough of it to give him a little buzz and to mimic a meth head closely enough that he could fool people into thinking he was an addict. As soon as their next big case was over, he wouldn't touch the coke again._

 _Maybe it had been the thrill of the latest bust they'd made, but he'd needed a little something to pep him up after such a gruelling case. He was exhausted and had wanted to go straight home to his wife and son but he rest of the team wanted to celebrate their success. He hated to think that his buddies would think him an arrogant tool like his brother._

 _He loved his brother. They had been through so much together, yet their relationship had been falling apart for years. The two of them never seemed to see eye to eye anymore and it had been so long since the two of them had gone out for a beer. They barely spoke to each other these days and each time he looked at Horatio, he could see the disappointment in his brother's eyes._

 _He had only ever wanted to be a good man, like his brother, and yet the harder he tried, the more he seemed to alienate himself from whatever had held them together in the first place. His frustration at his own failings had turned into an anger that he focused on Horatio._

 _He heard someone walk out the bar and stand beside him._

 _"_ _Go home, Ray."_

 _Horatio had followed him out here. Why couldn't the man just leave him alone?_

 _He flicked his still-lit cigarette butt into the car park, ignoring his brother._

 _"_ _Please, Ray. Go home."_

 _Ray could feel the anger building in him again as he stalked into the car park, hearing his brother's footsteps behind him._

 _"_ _Maybe you should go home," Ray said as a vehicle pulled into the car park. The headlights illuminated the pair of them and it was enough for Horatio to notice his brother's dilated pupils._

 _He felt Horatio grab his arm painfully. "Are you high?" he asked angrily. "What are you using?"_

 _He shrugged the hand off. "It's got nothing to do with you, so back off!"_

 _He could hear Horatio behind him again, he clenched his hands into fists._

 _"_ _Ray, I'm talking to - "_

 _Horatio's next words were cut off as Ray sent a vicious punch to his brother's face. The force behind it had been enough to cause Horatio to stagger into the side of the car._

 _Ray could hardly believe it himself as he stood dumfounded at what he'd just done. Horatio spat blood onto the ground and held his jaw, looking slightly unsteady on his feet. The blow had caught the older man by surprise._

 _Despite every argument they had ever had, the two of them had never come to blows with each other. There had been times that they had veered dangerously close to it in the past, yet one of them had always pulled back. After growing up with a physically abusive father, it had been the one line that they had never crossed. They would never take their frustrations out on each other physically - no matter how bad their disagreements might be._

 _Until now._

 _He reached out a hand to steady his brother and drew it back as Horatio pushed it away angrily._

 _"_ _Horatio, I'm sorry - "_

 _He watched as his brother wiped at his split lip with the back of his hand before spitting more blood on the floor._

 _"_ _Go home, Raymond."_

 _"_ _Horatio, I didn't mean - "_

 _His brother cut him off again. "We're done talking," he growled. "Go. Home."_


	7. Chapter 7

_Yelina Salas placed her purse down and made herself comfortable at her desk in the squad room, rubbing tiredly at her forehead._

 _She had waited up until the early hours of the morning expecting Ray to come home and hold her in his arms._

 _Word had spread quickly that the latest Narcotics sting had drawn to a close and she'd told Ray Jr that his father would be home soon. After weeks of barely seeing Ray, she was looking forward to spending some quality time with him._

 _Ray had been in a foul mood when he'd finally returned and barely said anything to her as he walked through the front door._

 _"_ _Where have you been?" she asked, trying to keep the anger from her voice._

 _"_ _Out," he replied, shrugging his jacket off and throwing it over a chair in the kitchen._

 _She loved her husband, but he could act like a petulant child when he wanted to._

 _"_ _We were expecting you home hours ago. Where were you?"_

 _"_ _Just out. What's with the twenty questions?"_

 _What had happened to the easy-going and fun-loving man she had married?_

 _"_ _Has something happened? Is something wrong?"_

 _She reached out a hand and found it angrily shrugged away._

 _"_ _I'm tired. Can we talk about this tomorrow?"_

 _How many times had he used that line on her?_

 _What happened when they ran out of tomorrows?_

 _She'd laid in bed next to him, listening to him tossing and turning throughout the night. She must have fallen asleep at some point, he was gone by the time she woke up this morning, leaving with nothing but a note saying:_

 _Had to bail this morning, have an important meet to arrange. Love you x_

 _She glanced at her phone, hoping that Ray would have called her by now. Both of them had a fiery temper and their arguments were often fierce. They would inevitably make up afterwards when one of them extended an olive branch of conciliation toward the other._

 _Glancing up from her phone, she caught the sight of the unmistakable red hair of Ray's brother. She gasped when she saw the split lip and deep bruising on his cheek. She made her way toward him immediately._

 _"_ _What happened?" she asked, lifting a hand to touch his injured face, immediately withdrawing it when she saw him take a step back._

 _He shrugged, trying to give off an air of nonchalance. "Just a scuffle with a perp. It's nothing to worry about."_

 _She wasn't convinced that it was 'nothing'._

 _"It looks like they caught you pretty hard. Have you been checked out?"_

 _Horatio frowned at her. "I wasn't paying attention and let my guard down. It's my own fault that I got pinned."_

 _"_ _Geez, Horatio," Frank Tripp remarked as he walked past. "What happened to you? You getting a face lift or something?"_

 _Horatio attempted to smile, grimacing at the pain it caused. "Yeah, I've decided that I'm going to do one side at a time."_

 _Frank smiled at the humorous rejoinder as he shook his head and walked toward his desk._

 _Horatio flinched as he felt something soft being held to his mouth, his eyes landing upon Yelina holding a handkerchief to his face._

 _"_ _You're bleeding," she said, looking at him intently._

 _The gesture was unmistakably intimate and hadn't been missed by John Hagen who stood several feet away in the corridor._

* * *

Returning to his office, Horatio sat down heavily behind his desk, feeling a headache growing and settling behind his eyes. He pinched the bridge of his nose, half in frustration and half in pain.

Of all the things he had expected Alexx to show him, the corpse in the morgue hadn't been one of them.

He hadn't recognised the man, yet the similarities between his post mortem and that of Raymond were almost identical. There were too many similarities for it to be just a coincidence.

Horatio had wracked his brain on the walk back to his office, trying desperately to recall anything from the night of his attack. No matter how hard he tried, everything was still a jumbled mess of colours and sounds.

He'd already taken his frustration out on Alexx today. His inability to recall the details of what happened that night ate at him. He wasn't used to not being in control. There were too many factors that still didn't make sense to him.

Most of the first week or so after the attack had passed him by in a medicated haze and he doubted he'd been coherent and cognisant of what was happening half the time. Calleigh had told him that they'd drawn a blank on who his attackers were and, as far as the Chief was concerned, the case was to be put on the back burner and left as of yet unsolved.

Unwilling to let it go, Horatio flipped open his phone and dialled a familiar number.

"Tripp," came the terse reply.

"Frank, it's Horatio. Have you got a moment?"

Frank's voice became slightly less aggressive. "What's up?"

Horatio smiled inwardly. Behind the gruff facade, Frank Tripp was a good man and more importantly, one who could be trusted.

"I was wondering what your plans were for tonight?"

There was a slight pause before Frank replied. "Are you asking me out on a date?"

"I heard a rumour that you like redheads." Horatio paused for a moment. "Wanna meet up for a beer?"

Frank let the rejoinder slide. "What time were you thinking?"

"Around 8pm?"

"Ok, sounds good." Frank paused for a moment. "Why do I get the feeling that there's some sort of catch?"

"Can't a guy ask a buddy out for a drink without there being a catch?"

Horatio smiled at Frank's response - the man had hung up on him immediately.

* * *

"Welcome back, John."

John Hagen glowered at the man and took a seat, folding his arms across his chest in the act of a petulant child.

"It's not like I had much choice but to come, is it?"

The man let the comment slide and continued. "Everything is a choice, John. Every decision we make has a consequence."

He had to agree with the statement. Every decision he'd ever made had led him to this point. It was easy to pinpoint the bad choices he'd made with the benefit of hindsight. He'd been so sure that the choices he'd made back then had been the right ones. It was only now when those birds finally came home to roost that he realised just how wrong he had been.

"You don't want to be here, that much is clear," the man observed as he opened a file.

"No offence, but I'd rather be anywhere else than here," John replied, sighing heavily and running a hand over his stubbled cheeks.

"But you made a conscious choice to knock on my door that first time. This is our third meeting...something is compelling you to keep coming here."

"I had no choice. I had nowhere else to turn…no one else I could talk to."

"Is it your conscience that troubles you, John?"

He felt the weight of the question hit him square in the chest. "For so long… I thought I was doing the right thing. I guess it just got a little complicated and messy along the way."

"What are you hoping to get out of this - are you hoping that admitting to what you've done will make things right again?"

He frowned at that. "Probably not. I've done too many things...I told myself that I did them for the right reasons."

The man clicked his pen and looked at him."Let's pick up from where we left things last time."

John Hagen took a deep breath and began.

* * *

"What's with all the 'cloak and dagger' stuff?" Frank asked, pulling himself into the booth, nodding his thanks for the beer that Horatio slid toward him.

Horatio frowned. "I have a feeling Rick Stetler's on my tail. I thought it was probably safer to meet somewhere where there weren't any prying eyes."

Frank nodded and took a sip of his beer. "You gonna tell me what's going on?" he asked, "If IAB are keeping tabs on you, is it something I really want to get involved in?"

Horatio took a gulp of his own beer and ignored the question. "You led the investigation into…uh - "

"The guys who jumped you?" Frank interrupted.

Horatio nodded his head. "Indeed."

"What is it that you want to know?"

Horatio couldn't help but smile. This was Frank to a tee - no messing and straight down to business.

"I can't access any of the reports on the system without leaving some sort of trail," Horatio began, turning his half-empty glass of beer in a circle. "I don't really remember much of it as it is," he finished quietly.

Frank, for his part, had the good grace to get straight to the point.

"Your team found plenty of DNA on you. Whoever attacked you left plenty of evidence behind."

"And nothing matched on CODIS?"

Frank shook his head. "I had your lab rats check it twice. Even did a statewide and nation-wide search… nothing."

Horatio let the 'lab rats' comment slide. It didn't make any sense that the people who attacked him were not in any database. The men who jumped him knew what they were doing. They were career criminals - they had to be.

"It doesn't make any sense, Francis."

Frank nodded his agreement. "There's something hinky going on here. Something doesn't add up."

Horatio said nothing for a number of moments and it was enough to put Frank on edge.

"Why do I get the feeling you're planning something."

Horatio smiled. "I'm considering my next move, is all."

Frank frowned. "Don't you think you'd be better off leaving this alone?"

Horatio's countenance darkened. "Someone tried to use my family to get to me. I can't let that slide and besides, there's something bigger going on here."

"I don't like it, Horatio."

Checking that Rick Stetler was nowhere to be seen, Horatio took a pen from his jacket and began drawing a symbol on a napkin before passing it to Frank.

"Have you ever seen this tattoo before?"

Frank studied it carefully. "Nope. Is it a gang stamp?"

"I'm not sure. I was hoping you could tell me what it means."

"I don't recognise it. Why do you ask?"

Horatio paused, unsure of how to frame his response. "It was found on DB brought into the morgue earlier today."

"Does it mean anything to you?" Frank asked, passing it back to his colleague. "Do you recognise it from one of your attackers?"

Horatio shook his head ruefully. "I still can't place any of them," he said, letting out a frustrated breath.

"Why are you showing me this then?"

Horatio glanced around the bar again. "This stays between the two of us, ok?"

Frank nodded and gestured for Horatio to continue.

"The body in the morgue… The COD is virtually identical to that of Raymond."

Frank took a moment to consider the evidence. "You think the corpse in the morgue is connected to what happened to you somehow?"

"Call it a hunch," Horatio shrugged.

"You want me to do some digging about the tattoo, see what I can find?"

"It would be appreciated, Frank. I can't be seen to be getting myself involved in this one, for obvious reasons."

"Talking of obvious," Frank muttered as he caught sight of Rick Stetler attempting to slip into the bar unnoticed.

Horatio rolled his eyes. "I'm surprised it took him this long."

Frank's eyes gleamed mischievously. "Maybe we should throw him a bone…throw him off the scent a little bit?"

Horatio grinned. "What did you have in mind?"

* * *

Calleigh's car sitting in his driveway had taken Horatio by surprise as he arrived home after meeting with Frank.

"Everything ok?" he asked, holding open her car door for her.

She smiled at his gentlemanly manners.

"You left pretty quickly at the end of the shift. I wanted to come and check that you were ok."

He tried to give her a reassuring smile. "I met Frank for a beer after work."

"That's not what I was worried about," she replied with a frown. "How did it go with Stetler?"

Horatio let out a tired sigh. "More of the same old stuff. He's just looking to stir things up and see what lands."

Horatio opened his front door and motioned for Calleigh to enter his house with him.

"He's dangerous, Horatio."

He picked up the hint of concern in her voice. "I've got him off my back...for now."

A sly smile crossed Horatio's face as he opened a bottle of wine and poured a glass, handing it to Calleigh.

"Are you up to something?"

He tried to look affronted at the remark. "Why would you think that?" The smile crept across his face once more. "He turned up at the bar Frank and I were at. We decided to let him bark up the wrong tree for a while…"

 _Frank huffed humourlessly as his gaze slid to Rick Stetler in the opposite corner of the bar._

 _"_ _He stands out like a hooker at a tea party."_

 _Horatio cocked an eyebrow at his colleague's words._

 _"_ _Seriously," Frank continued, "It's a wonder he catches anyone doing anything. He doesn't know the meaning of the word 'inconspicuous'."_

 _Horatio smiled. "I take it you're not a fan?"_

 _Frank gave Horatio an incredulous look. "Are you?"_

 _Horatio shook his head and changed the subject as he briefly glanced in Rick Stetler's direction. "What did you have in mind?"_

 _"_ _How about we give that asshole something to look at…"_

Calleigh had to smile at the idea of Rick Stetler tirelessly trying to find evidence of bribery and collusion between Horatio and Frank.

"I bet Frank $150 that the Jaguars would beat the Dolphins tonight. As luck would have it, I was right." Horatio smiled, a smug grin on his face.

"Stetler saw the money changing hands between you?" Calleigh asked as she took another sip of her wine.

He nodded his head. "He did."

"So now he thinks the two of you are involved in something?"

"Who knows how Rick Stetler's mind works?"

Calleigh gave him a long look. "Why do I get the feeling you're up to something?"

Horatio tried his best to look innocent. Calleigh wasn't convinced.

"Is this something to do with Ray?"

The sound of his brother's name made Horatio flinch perceptibly. Taking a gulp of his own wine, he tried to change the subject. "I'm beat. How about we move this to the bedroom," he suggested, grabbing the half-empty bottle of wine. "Can we talk about this tomorrow?"

Following her into the bedroom, he placed the wine down and kissed her deeply.

"I thought you were tired?" She asked coyly.

"Not that tired," he responded as he slipped his hands under her top.


	8. Chapter 8

_Checking the coordinates on his phone a second time, he pulled up on to the side of the road and glanced ahead, not sure that he had the right place._

" _Come alone," the caller had told him._

 _He knew that it went against protocol to meet an unknown source alone. This wasn't police business though. This was personal and if it helped to clear Ray's name, he would willingly take the risk._

 _He saw movement from the other side of the road. His eyes took in the heavyset stranger standing with his hands in his pockets. There was no gun he could see, unless the man was hiding it tucked into his pants at the small of his back._

 _Pulling the keys from the vehicle, he got out and stood by the driver's door. "I'm here, as requested."_

 _The man glanced briefly to both the left and right before making his way toward the vehicle._

" _You came alone?" the stranger asked, looking down at the gun and badge of the man before him._

" _I did."_

 _The stranger looked around again. "You wouldn't be lying to me, would you? I don't tend to trust too easily...especially cops."_

" _I'm a man of my word," he replied. "Are you?"_

 _The stranger looked him up and down, as if sizing him up as a potential threat. "You're the dirty cop's brother?"_

 _He struggled to keep his tone neutral. "You know I am. I agreed to meet because you said you could help."_

" _You know he was in deep...real deep. Someone sold him out then...bang. The man's dead. Word on the street was that he was tweaking right up until the day he got popped. Rumour has it he switched sides...maybe one of your own did for him?" The stranger looked him up and down again. "People who stick their nose where it doesn't belong are liable to get it broken, if you know what I mean..."_

 _He was growing tired of this. The man hadn't told him anything he didn't know or suspect already._

" _Where is this going? You said you had information about Ray."_

 _The stranger smiled at him. "I can do better than that. I have a message."_

 _He felt someone land a punch to his kidneys. The unexpected blow dropped him to his knees as he gasped for breath. He felt the stranger's hand grip his chin roughly, the man sneering in his face._

" _What's the message?" he managed to gasp._

 _The force of the backhand across his face caused his ears to ring._

" _Stop looking."_

 _He tried reaching for his gun as more assailants crowded in. The blows came one after another, keeping him on his knees as he threw punches wildly at his attackers, feeling at least a few of them make contact with their intended target. If he was going down, he was going to take as many of them with him as he could._

 _Another blow from behind drove him to his hands and knees. He made a desperate attempt to grab his gun...his phone...anything that might save his life. A boot stamped down on his left hand and he cried out in pain, further reducing his defences until he could no longer put up a fight._

 _He felt himself hauled up and thrown back against his vehicle, waiting for the death blow that he knew was coming._

 _This was it. He was going to die on some godforsaken road in the middle of nowhere._

 _He could barely see as the blood streamed down his face. His body refusing to hold him upright any longer. He could feel his legs shaking as he tried vainly to stay conscious. He braced himself for more punishment._

 _He felt himself being pinned against the side of the Hummer, vaguely realising that the beating had stopped._

 _He looked directly into the eyes of the man holding him against the side of the vehicle, instantly recognising the man he thought he knew so well._

 _"_ _Raymond," he croaked. "Why?"_

 _They were brothers. That mattered, didn't it?_

 _"_ _You have to pay."_

 _"_ _I'm sorry."_

 _The man holding him huffed before punching him viciously in the solar plexus._

 _"_ _You will be."_

Horatio woke up with a gasp, feeling the sweat pouring from his body.

He glanced at Calleigh, relieved to find that she was still asleep. At least he hadn't woken her.

Quietly removing himself from the bed, he pulled on a pair of jogging pants and made his way through the lounge and on to the back porch.

It had been where Calleigh had found him hours later - leaning over the railing, watching the ocean in the dark.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked as she approached him, she herself standing only in the shirt he had worn yesterday.

"You're freezing," she said, alarmed at how cold to the touch he was.

Her touch seemed to reach him slowly as he turned to look at her, his eyes clouded and dazed.

"Calleigh - "

"How long have you been out here?" she asked, concerned for his welfare.

He shook his head as if trying to clear it. "I'm not sure."

She guided him back into the lounge and pushed him gently toward the couch.

"What happened?" she asked, "One minute you were in bed next to me. Then I wake up and you're gone."

He rubbed a hand over his face. "I, uh…I had a dream."

She could tell from the state of him that it wasn't a pleasant one.

"You wanna talk about it?"

He shook his head as a shiver went through him, whether from the cold or the memory of his dream, he couldn't tell. "I'm sorry I woke you."

She wasn't going to accept his self-sacrificing tonight. Both of them were too tired to play games with each other.

"Oh no you don't mister," she gently admonished him. "We're going back to bed and then you're gonna tell me what this is all about in the morning."

He looked at her and smiled, feeling safe when he was with her. "Yes, ma'am."

She threw a t-shirt his way as he entered the bedroom. He gave her a questioning look as she wrapped her arms around him. "You're still freezing," she responded, picking up on his confusion. "I'm not spending the rest of the night cuddling up to a block of ice."

Still slightly disorientated, he followed her to the bed.

* * *

The past few weeks had been so busy that Raymond Caine had almost forgot about his involvement in Horatio's attack.

Almost, but not quite.

The Mala Noche had kept him occupied and had been testing him - seeing how far they could push him and the lengths he would be willing to go to. If these Hispanic idiots wanted to play games, he was up for the challenge.

He pulled his gun from the waistband of his trousers and set about taking it apart. He was as fastidious about cleaning his weapon as his brother, even more so now that he was so deeply undercover that he was all but on his own. He needed to know that he could rely on the weapon in his hand.

"You're not tweaking, are you?"

Ray scowled as he heard the familiar voice of the man who had gotten him into this mess in the first place. He had wanted to kill him as soon as he'd realised who the man really was, yet the two of them were so closely tied together in this that they would need each other to get out of this with their lives intact.

He sighed deeply, refusing to look away from his task. "What do you want?"

"I thought you'd want to know that the Lieutenant and his team are causing us issues again. There's been another DNA search request. They didn't find anything, obviously."

"What's that got to do with me?"

He could hear the man walk closer to him, feel the breath on the back of his neck.

"Your brother could make all of this blow up in our faces."

Ray shrugged his shoulders. "What are you so worried about? You said they didn't find anything."

"Caine is relentless. He's not going to stop until he gets to the truth. That would be a very bad thing…for all of us."

He turned to look at the man, picking up on the unspoken threat.

"No way. You're not laying a finger on him!"

The man threw him a smug grin.

"You didn't have so much of an issue with it last time."

Those words had hit home. He was just as guilty as the rest of them for what had happened to Horatio. Perhaps he had been naive to think that they would throw a couple of punches at him and leave it at that. The group of them had set on him and beat him senseless. They had almost killed him.

"If you touch him, I'll kill you," Ray threatened.

The man laughed. "It's that easy, is it?"

"He's my family. I'll kill you all if I have to."

"You think he'd do the same for you?" The man shot back, "You think he'd trust you if he found out what you did - that you were a part of this all along?"

The insinuation made Ray's blood turn cold. He had only ever thrown a punch at his brother once. It had taken weeks for Horatio to speak to him again afterwards. It was inevitable that Horatio would turn his back on him if he ever found out about his part in the attack.

"Are you threatening me?"

The man smirked. Ray wanted to smack the shit-eating grin right off his face.

"I don't need to."

"What do you mean?"

"I threw your brother a little bone… Something to keep him occupied for a while. If he's half the cop you say he is, he'll figure out the connection sooner or later."

Ray's gaze dropped to the gun pieces in his hands. Things were spiralling out of his control way too fast.

"You need to decide which side you're on, Caine."

"Haven't I made that clear already?"

"You might need to prove it. Sooner rather than later."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The man began to walk away and called over his shoulder. "If it comes down to it, whose hide are you going to save - your brother's or your own?"

* * *

Calleigh frowned as she rolled over to reach out for Horatio only to find his side of the bed empty once more. The mattress was cold, meaning that Horatio hadn't been in the bed for at least an hour.

Throwing off the covers, she was about to track him down and lecture him on not waking her when her eye caught a note on the bedside table.

 _Calleigh,_

 _Couldn't sleep so I've gone for a run. There's coffee in the kitchen._

 _I'll be back soon._

 _Horatio_

Most of his injuries sustained in the attack had healed, but it didn't stop Calleigh from worrying about his safety or his state of mind for that matter.

He'd looked dazed and confused when she found him on the back porch last night, wearing nothing but a pair of jogging bottoms. He hadn't even sensed her presence until she laid a gentle hand on his arm.

He'd been evasive about his dream last night and both of them had been too tired to push things any further. No doubt Horatio's run this morning had been another way for him to avoid the conversation. She knew she would have as much chance of getting Horatio to open up about it as she would trying to baptise a cat.

He'd warned her that he could be hard work and she had no doubt that would be the case when she finally cornered him and pushed him into talking about last night.

* * *

He'd managed to grab a few moments of rest after returning to bed with Calleigh, but it hadn't been anywhere near what he would consider a restful sleep.

He'd been reliving the night of the attack since it had happened and each time the dream had shifted slightly. Last night had been the first time that he'd ever seen Raymond in his dream though.

He wasn't one to put much stock into the images thrown up by a person's subconscious, yet it had shaken him deeply to find Ray seeping into his memories of that night. Dreams were abstract creations painted by an overworked mind, it made sense that his brother would feature heavily in them after everything that had happened. Everything pointed back to Raymond in one way or another.

Calleigh had still been deeply asleep when he finally gave up trying to sleep at 5am. Pulling on fresh jogging bottoms and a t-shirt, he'd quietly made a pot of coffee and written a quick note incase she woke and found him gone.

 _Calleigh,_

 _Couldn't sleep so I've gone for a run. There's coffee in the kitchen._

 _I'll be back soon._

 _Horatio_

He'd started his run slowly, knowing that it would be foolish to push himself after being laid up for weeks. His ribs protested at the movement at first, but he ignored the discomfort and set off along the beach.

Running had always been a way for him to clear his mind of work and help him work through his thoughts and feelings. Running so early in the morning meant that the beach was relatively quiet and he could be left to his own devices to think things through.

He had no idea how long he'd been running for, but his body began signalling that it was time for him to stop. He ignored it and kept going, as if running would help him make sense of the whole situation with Raymond.

Images of his younger brother and the many times they had argued filled his mind and compelled him to run faster, to push himself harder. Was he looking to punish himself for the feelings of failure he felt?

He could, he should have, done more to keep Ray from getting himself mixed up in the Narcotics game. He had promised their mother that he would keep him safe. He had failed and he hated himself for it.

His eyes were streaming as his lungs cried out for oxygen, but he pushed himself further still. He pushed himself until his legs gave out and he landed on his hands and knees in the sand, vomiting violently.

If only he could purge the complex feelings swirling around in his mind so easily.

* * *

Calleigh walked into the hallway at the sound of the front door opening. She gave Horatio an apprising look as she took in his sweaty form.

"Good run?" she asked, taking a sip of coffee before setting it down on the sideboard and walking toward him.

Horatio took a small step back and gave her a pained smile, seeing the look of hurt on her face.

"I'm sweaty. Let me get a shower first, ok?"

She bit down on an acerbic response, knowing that it was Horatio's way of further avoiding a conversation about last night.

She nodded her head and watched him walk toward the bathroom.

Hearing the shower being switched on, Calleigh busied herself making them both breakfast, determined that she would get him to open up and talk about what had bothered him so deeply in his dream last night.

Ten minutes later and dressed in his smart blue suit and a white shirt, Horatio let out a frustrated breath.

"You looking for these?" Calleigh asked, a set of car keys dangling from her hand.

 _His_ car keys.

He reached out to take them from her only to see Calleigh snatch them away.

"Calleigh," he said, trying to keep his temper in check. "I don't have time for this. I'm going to be late."

She tucked the keys into her pants pocket. "You're the boss. You're allowed to be late once in a while. Besides," she said, glancing at her watch, "the shift doesn't start for another hour anyway."

"There are things I need to do," he said, as if that would explain everything.

Calleigh shook her head. "Not until you sit down, have something to eat, and talk to me."

Their eyes locked together, neither willing to back down.

Reluctantly, Horatio let out a deep sigh and sank into a chair at the kitchen table. The look he gave her clearly communicating that he wasn't happy with her.

Was he sulking?

She placed two slices of toast and a cup of coffee in front of him and stared at him until his eyes dropped to the plate and he began eating.

He had already told her that he could be stubborn and obstinate when he wanted to be. He could glare at her, sulk, or throw his toys out of the pram, but she would not be cowed by his outwardly grumpy and hostile demeanour when someone pushed him too far.

He had spent far too much of his life pushing people away, telling them that it was for their sake and not his own. He would much prefer to lick his wounds in silence and blame himself for things that inevitably were out of his control.

Not this time, she thought.

He gulped down the last of his coffee and made to stand.

"We're not done yet." Her words were firm, she would brook no arguments from him.

"Calleigh - "

"We need to talk about last night."

Horatio screwed his eyes shut briefly. "What about it?"

"I found you outside half-frozen to death. You looked like you'd seen a ghost."

She saw him flinch momentarily at her comments.

"It was just a dream."

"It must have been some dream," she countered. "What happened?"

He suddenly felt cornered, as if he were being pushed to talk about things he'd rather leave buried. His coping mechanism had always been to bury things so deeply that he didn't have to think about them. The deeper they were buried, the less effect they would have on him.

Or so he thought.

"It was nothing."

"Quit running from me, Horatio!"

The vehemence in her voice took him by surprise. It had been perhaps the first time that he'd ever heard her shout, let alone lose her temper.

She took a couple of deep breaths, trying to control her anger.

"We're going to sit here until you tell me what's wrong."

He said nothing for a number of moments.

"I don't think that's an appropriate way to speak to your superior," he responded childishly, not willing to look at her.

"You don't get to pull rank on me. We're not at work."

He had the good grace to look ashamed. "You're right. I'm sorry." He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a deep sigh. "I'm not good at these type of things."

"Then just start at the beginning."

He nodded and took a couple of breaths before he began.

"It's always the same. I get out of the Hummer to meet with the guy."

"The one that set you up?"

Horatio nodded.

"I realise pretty soon that it's a trap. They all start piling in… I try to fight back but there's too many of them. I can feel every punch…every kick." He looked at her briefly before continuing. "After a while they stop hitting me…I feel myself being hauled up against the Hummer and…. I wait for the final blow…the one that kills me."

"How many times?"

He looked at her, confused.

"The dream," she clarified. "How many times?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Most nights since it happened."

She'd spent several nights with him and the dream hadn't seemed to bother him this much before.

Something else had happened last night.

Something different.

"What happened last night?"

He closed his eyes and let his head drop.

"It started the same, I'm waiting for the final blow but this time I can see who it is. I could never see them clearly before. My vision is hazy, but I can see clearly who's holding me up…who's going to be the one that kills me."

"Who was it?"

He didn't answer her. He was refusing to look at her.

"Horatio, who was it?"

He looked at her then and she had never seen his blue eyes look so sad.

"It was Raymond."


	9. Chapter 9

**Happy Easter, folks!**

 **May you all have a peaceful and restful Easter period - be good to yourself and eat lots of chocolate!**

* * *

"Lieutenant, it's good to see you," the doctor smiled as he shook Horatio's hand and made himself comfortable behind his desk. "I've got the results of the x-rays."

Horatio watched the doctor open the file on his desk.

"All good, I hope."

Placing the images back on the desk, the doctor smiled at him. "Your hand has healed well. There's no reason why we can't take the cast off today."

"So I'm cleared for full duty?"

The doctor frowned. "Medically speaking, there's no reason why you shouldn't be out in the field…"

"But?"

Horatio looked at the doctor intently, knowing that the man was itching to say something.

The doctor took a deep breath before he began, deciding to choose his words carefully.

"You took a significant number of blows to your head…enough to fracture your skull."

"You said the scans and x-rays were clear," Horatio replied warily.

"Even though the fracture has healed, there's a risk that if you take another blow to your head that it could result in longterm and significant neurological damage."

"What kind of damage?"

"Impossible to say, lieutenant. I would not recommend getting hit on the head again any time soon. The results could be devastating."

"Understood, doctor," Horatio replied as he watched the doctor sign the papers that would allow him to return to active duty. "I'll do my best."

The doctor handed him the papers reluctantly. "Do more than that please," he frowned. "I have no desire to see you back here any time soon."

Horatio had the good grace to look abashed. "About that," he began, fidgeting nervously, "I probably wasn't the easiest patient. I apologise if I gave you and your staff a hard time."

The doctor waved his hand dismissively. "There's no need to apologise," he smiled at his stubborn patient. "My staff were touched by the flowers and chocolates you sent. That was very kind of you."

Horatio frowned. "I probably wasn't all that appreciative at the time. I wanted you all to know that I'm thankful for what you did for me while I was here."

The doctor smiled as he handed over another slip of paper. "Take this to the nurses station and they'll remove the cast on your hand. Then go out there and keep our streets safe, lieutenant."

Horatio stood, straightened his suit jacket and shook the doctor's hand.

"I'll do my best, doctor."

* * *

Calleigh had been so focused on cleaning the gun at her work station that she had failed to hear Horatio enter the room. It was only when she caught the unmistakable scent of his aftershave that she realised he was there.

"You're lucky I wasn't firing this thing," she said without looking up at him. "I swear I'm going to put a bell on you."

"That would take all the fun out of it," he replied, tapping the papers in his hand. He slid them in front of her. "This is for you," he said as he motioned to them.

She picked them up. "You brought me a gift?" she teased.

He frowned, suddenly feeling awkward. "Not quite."

Reading the contents, she smiled at him. "You're cleared for full duty?"

"I am," he smiled, eager to get back out on the streets to do what he did best.

She crooked a finger at him.

"Follow me," she said.

He looked puzzled. "Where are we going?"

She led him to the gun cage, unlocked the door and let him inside. He watched her as she moved to the corner of the cage and came back with a small box.

"I have something for you," she said as she handed him the evidence box, wrapped with a gold ribbon and bow.

The gesture was touching and he couldn't help but give her a shy smile as he kept his head low but raised his eyes to hers.

Removing the ribbon and carefully placing it to one side, he opened the box to find his service weapon. He gave her another of those heart-melting smiles - the one that made her insides tingle.

"She's been cleaned, oiled and the clip's fully loaded."

"Calleigh, you didn't have to - "

"I wanted to," she replied, not giving him a chance to tell her that she needn't have bothered.

He checked the clip and safety, more out of habit than need, and then placed the gun in the holster on his hip.

He was looking at her intently, he opened his mouth to say something before shutting it again.

"What is it?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Not here."

She felt disappointed and yet she knew he was right. They had to keep things professional at work.

"What are your plans for tonight?" he asked as he once again touched the holster on his hip, as if reassuring himself that it was still there.

"Nothing much. How about you?"

"Care to join me for dinner?"

She smiled at him. "Sounds good."

He frowned as his phone chirped at him, smiling an apology at Calleigh.

"Frank, what have you got for me?"

Calleigh rolled her eyes. Now that he was cleared for duty, he would sink his teeth into the first case that came their way.

* * *

Horatio stood outside the Miami Dade Crime lab, waiting for Frank Tripp to meet him.

"What have you got for me, Frank?" Horatio asked without turning around.

It still amazed the detective that Horatio could sense someone was behind him without having to look.

"I found a lead on your gang stamp," the tall Texan replied.

This was the way it was between them. They both had respect for each other and the jobs they performed. Both were too long in the tooth to spend time with pleasantries that invariably meant nothing to either of them. It was best just to get down to business.

Frank handed Horatio a piece of paper.

"They call themselves 'The Bandyci'."

"Eastern European?" Horatio suggested.

Frank nodded his head. "Polish. Rough translation is 'The Bandits'. They've been operating some drug smuggling ring down in South Beach for a while. They also have their hand in prostitution. Mainly girls from their country looking for a better life. They end up hooked on drugs and get pimped out to anyone who'll pay The Bandyci for their services."

"They sound like real sweethearts."

"Tell me about it," Frank huffed. "I've got some contacts in Organised Crime, I'm waiting for them to come back to me about an ID on your corpse. Any idea why these guys would be involved in what happened to you?"

Horatio shrugged his shoulders and let out a frustrated breath, placing his hands on his hips. "I have no idea. I haven't even heard of them before. There haven't been any cases we've worked on like that recently."

"So there's no connection that you know of?"

Horatio shook his head. "Nothing that makes any sense to me. There has to be some sort of link between the gang and Raymond. Keep digging will you, Frank?"

"Sure," he replied before pausing. "Look, I've read a couple of case files on these guys and it's clear that they don't play nice. If you're planning on going after them by yourself, well…it ain't gonna end well."

"Frank, I'm touched by your concern."

Frank huffed. "It's been hard enough working with you. I don't wanna have to break in another lieutenant, especially if he's half the pain in the ass that you are."

Horatio smiled and walked away, calling over his shoulder. "Duly noted, Francis."

* * *

"I got your message, Miss Valera,"

The young DNA specialist placed down the tools in her hands and turned to face the lieutenant.

"Dr Woods said you would want to know the results straight away."

Horatio looked momentarily confused.

"Of the John Doe brought in a couple of days ago," Valera added.

Kicking himself for not being up to speed with things, Horatio cleared his throat. "What did you find?"

Maxine Valera handed the folder to the lieutenant, watching as he opened it and catching the scowl that crossed his face.

"I've run the samples through every database we have access to…there were no matches anywhere on the system."

"Have you run the samples state-wide?"

"I've run them everywhere I can think of, sir. There's no match to anyone listed."

Horatio tried not to let the frustration show on his face. How could there be no one listed? Surely if the corpse in the morgue was a foreign national, there would be finger prints from Immigration at the very least, assuming he'd come in through the front door, which didn't seem likely given the conversation he'd had with Frank earlier.

None of it made an ounce of sense to him.

Valera watched the lieutenant, treading carefully. "There is one thing I can tell you about your John Doe."

He knew he was clutching at straws, but he would take any small piece of information he could at this point.

"Go on," he said, waiting to hear what she would say.

"The samples taken from the body in the morgue match those that were taken from your clothes after the….uh…"

Horatio nodded his head. "Understood, Miss Valera."

The young scientist looked relieved that she hadn't had to finish that particular sentence.

Horatio gave the folder one last look before returning it to his colleague. "Thank you for this, ma'am. It's much appreciated."

She gave him an awkward smile, still somewhat in awe of him despite working in his lab for several years now.

"Not a problem, sir," she replied as she watched him walk from the room before calling out to him. "It's good to see you back, sir. We've missed you."

She mentally kicked herself, the lieutenant was not the sort of man who did well with this kind of talk. She caught the cocked eyebrow before he turned and made his way down the corridor.

* * *

"Horatio, come in."

Horatio gave an awkward grimace as he entered Chief Vasquez's office, shutting the door quietly behind him.

"Thank you for seeing me, sir," Horatio said as he stood in front of his superior.

The Chief smiled at him. "Oh, at ease. Sit down man."

Horatio took the offered seat, feeling unaccountably nervous.

"You look well, Horatio. I hear you've been given the all-clear to return to active duty."

The comment took Horatio by surprise and it must have shown on his face.

"Nothing much gets past me," the Chief laughed before becoming more serious. "Is that why you wanted to see me?"

"It was one of the reasons."

Horatio kept his gaze on his hands for a number of moments, flexing his newly-freed left hand. It still felt strange after the cast had been removed earlier that day.

"Is it about your case?" the Chief suggested.

Horatio shook his head. "It was about…uh," he stammered uselessly. "It was about a private matter."

"I see."

He suddenly felt incredibly nervous. How would he explain the situation to his superior?

"What kind of private matter?" the Chief prompted.

Horatio took a deep breath. "It's about an inter-department relationship."

"Between?"

He'd started this and the Chief would not let it drop until he'd heard what he'd come here to say.

"Myself and Officer Duquesne."

Horatio kept his eyes cast firmly downwards, waiting for the response. The Chief would not take the news well. One or both of them would be forced to transfer.

"How long has it been going on for?"

Horatio suddenly felt as if he were being interrogated.

"It got serious a couple of weeks ago."

"And what are your intentions towards Miss Duquesne? Not to sound like an overbearing parent," the chief added with a smile.

"We like each other a great deal."

It was a lame response, but it wasn't as if he felt comfortable talking about this kind of thing, especially with his superior.

"Enough to risk your professional career and integrity?"

He hadn't really given it a lot of thought up until that point.

"It's not a meaningless fling, if that's what you mean, sir."

The silence stretched long enough for Horatio to look up at the Chief, perplexed to find a wry smile on the man's face.

"What are you expecting me to say?" the Chief asked, still smiling.

"That it's against department rules for a subordinate to be in a relationship with their superior."

"That's true," the Chief agreed.

"So our choices are either stop seeing each other or request a transfer," Horatio supplied, knowing the likely response he would get.

"Not necessarily," the Chief supplied after a pause. "Let me think on it for a while. There may be other avenues that we could explore to make this work."

Horatio couldn't hide the look of shock from his face. "Thank you, sir."

The Chief let out a chuckle. "Don't thank me just yet. There's something we need to talk about concerning Sargent Stetler..."

* * *

Horatio found himself enveloped in a hug as soon as he walked through the door of the restaurant.

"Chere, you're back," Delphine Dubois cried happily, "and you've brought the beautiful Miss Calleigh with you," she said as she spotted the blonde woman behind him, reaching over and giving her a hug too.

"How are things?" Horatio asked. "Business is good, I hope?"

Delphine waved as hand dismissively. "We are never too busy to find a table for you and the lovely Miss Calleigh, 'chere."

They followed as Delphine led them to a table with a beautiful ocean view, handing them both menus.

"What can I get you to drink?" Delphine asked, pen paused above her pad.

"Ladies first," Horatio offered, smiling at Calleigh.

"Can I get a glass of the house red?"

Delphine smiled and turned to Horatio.

"Just a club soda for me," he replied, "it's my turn to drive."

The kindly owner of the restaurant nodded her head and made her way toward the bar.

"You've been quiet the whole way here," Calleigh began carefully, "you wanna tell me what's on your mind?"

Horatio momentarily considered avoiding the question until his mind cast back to a few days previous when Calleigh had all but dragged the truth out of him. He had no desire to repeat the experience, especially in a crowded restaurant full of onlookers.

"I went to see the Chief this afternoon."

"About returning to active duty?" Calleigh asked.

He fidgeted nervously for a moment. "Among other things."

"What other things?" she prompted.

He took a deep breath before he spoke, hoping that he wouldn't feel the fiery end of Calleigh's temper if he confessed the truth.

"I disclosed our relationship to him."

"You did?" Try as she might, Calleigh couldn't keep the shock from her voice. It had not been what she'd expected him to say.

"I felt it was best to be honest with him," Horatio explained. "Rick Stetler's been tailing me and it's only a matter of time before he works out what's going on. I thought it better to beat him to the punch."

Calleigh tried to keep a lid on her temper, feeling hurt that it had been Rick Stetler that caused Horatio to be honest with the Chief and not the fact that he cared deeply about her.

"I see," she said, trying to keep her tone even.

It took a moment for Horatio to realise that perhaps his words had come out in the wrong way.

"Its wasn't the only reason." He reached out and took her hand, giving it a light squeeze. "I'm serious about our relationship and I don't want anything to stand in the way of that."

"What did the Chief say?"

Horatio let out a breath and closed his eyes momentarily. "I offered to transfer or quit if needs be."

She looked at him, shocked by the admission. "Horatio, you can't do that!"

"I will, if that's what it takes."

Calleigh could feel her temper rising again, but this time for completely different reasons. "That's unfair, the lab…the job...they're your life."

He smiled at her, still holding her hand. "There are some things more important in life than a lab and a badge. Besides, the Chief said there might be another way."

"What's that?"

Horatio frowned. "He didn't say. He said he would make some calls and let me know when he'd made his decision."

Calleigh had enjoyed a glass of wine with each course they'd eaten and it had been enough for her to be fairly bold when Delphine approached to clear their plates away, especially as Horatio had excused himself from the table.

"You're good for him, 'chere. You make him happy."

The wine had loosened her lips slightly. "I wish I could get him to open up and talk to me. It's like wringing water from a rock sometimes."

"Is there something wrong - something we should know about?" Delphine asked, concerned for the man she cared about so much. The man who had been through far too much heartbreak in his life.

"The attack had something to do with his brother," Calleigh realised too late that she was saying more than she should.

"Raymond?"

Calleigh nodded. "He won't talk to me about it. Not unless I force it out of him."

Delphine smiled. "May I tell you a story, Miss Calleigh?"

Calleigh nodded her head. Anything to help her understand Horatio.

"There was a young boy who lived in a village in the woods who would go out every day hunting and foraging for food to take back to his family. One day, he came across a brown bear limping through the bushes. It was clear to the boy that the bear was injured and he tried to approach it. He lurched back when the bear bared his teeth and growled at him.

The boy knew that the bear wouldn't survive for long if it couldn't hunt and so he began to bring it food and each day he encouraged it to take a step closer to him. It took weeks, but finally the bear was close enough that the boy could see the large thorn in its paw.

The paw was swollen and infected and each time the boy reached out to touch it, the bear would bare his teeth and growl at him. The boy still wouldn't give up and each day he would bring food to the bear getting so close that he could almost touch it. One day, the boy shot his arm out so quickly that the bear didn't have time to react. He pulled the thorn out and braced himself for the bear's attack.

When he opened his eyes, the bear was looking at him and he was sure the animal would lash out in retaliation. He stood still as the bear moved toward him, sniffing the boy's hair before he made his way back into the woods. He never saw the bear again."

Calleigh looked momentarily nonplussed by the story.

"Raymond is the thorn in Horatio's paw," Delphine added with a sad smile. "It's been in there so long that maybe a part of him doesn't want to let go of it."

The story began to make sense to her now. "So how do I take it out?"

"That, Miss Calleigh, I don't know," Delphine replied as she saw Horatio walk back toward the table. "Give him time and hopefully he'll let you. Don't give up on him, ok?"

I won't," she replied sincerely.


	10. Chapter 10

"This looks like the place," Horatio said as he looked up at the gaudy window of 'Nancy's Nails'.

Eric let out a small laugh, "It's not like you could miss it with a sign like that."

The large neon pink sign in the window could only be described as being 'garish' - and that was being kind. The nail salon had an air of desperation in its exterior design.

Grabbing his kit from the back of the Hummer, Horatio followed his colleague inside, surprised to find himself face to face with Yelina.

It must have taken Yelina by surprise too, judging by the look she gave him.

"Horatio, you're back?"

He gave her a tight nod. His first crime scene since the attack and misfortune would have it that Yelina Salas was the lead detective. Their last conversation had been stilted and frosty to say the least.

"What have we got?" Horatio replied, getting straight down to business.

Yelina raised her eyebrow before consulting her note pad. "The victim is Nancy Harrigan, owner of the beauty salon."

Horatio quirked an eyebrow at that. The dark and dank interior were at odds with the brightly-lit sign in the window.

He nodded his head toward the body on the floor. "Who found her?"

Yelina pointed to a young blonde woman standing in the corner of the room who was gesticulating to a uniformed officer.

"Danielle, her assistant."

Opening his kit, Horatio pulled out a pair of gloves and snapped them on, clicking on a penlight torch and shining it over the body as Alexx did her preliminary report on the victim.

"What have we got, Alexx?"

"Thirty-five year old female with a nail file rammed into her skull," the M.E replied without looking up.

"Ouch," Eric said as he grabbed his camera and began taking pictures of the crime scene.

"Cause of death?" Horatio asked, although it was plainly obvious that the nail file had caused the killer blow.

Pulling the liver thermometer out of the corpse, Alexx replied, "I can't see any signs of injury apart from the obvious. Whoever stabbed that nail file in her eye did it hard enough to pierce her brain. Death would have been almost instant."

"Hmmm," Horatio replied before turning to look at Eric. "Do me a favour and check if they have CCTV here."

Eric nodded his head and made his way over to the uniformed officers.

"Good to be back?" Alexx asked as she began packing her things away, gesturing to her colleagues to prepare the body for transport back to the morgue.

Horatio's boyish grin was his only response. His smile faded as Yelina made her way back over to him.

"Any leads?" Horatio asked, watching Alexx beat a quiet yet hasty retreat.

Yelina glanced back down at her note pad. "Her assistant says that there's been some trouble between our victim and another nail salon that's just set up across the street." Yelina looked up from her notepad briefly before speaking again. "Fancy's Nails opened three months ago and has been undercutting Nancy and taking her customers it would seem."

Horatio chose to bite his tongue regarding the ludicrous names and instead concentrated on scanning the crime scene. "Have we managed to track down Miss….uh….Fancy?" He frowned as he said it, feeling ridiculous.

"Fancy Delancy," Yelina said with the ghost of a smile on her face which grew with the incredulous expression Horatio gave her. "Officers are trying to track her down now."

He shook his head, placing a yellow fibre into a small envelope before sealing and marking it.

Yelina watched him a while, admiring the way he effortlessly moved around the crime scene, giving off an air of authority without being arrogant.

"Have you missed this?" she asked quietly.

"Nail salons?" he replied flippantly.

"Crime scenes," Yelina clarified, even though there was no need to. "It hasn't been the same without you. I've missed you."

He frowned, not wanting to get into another disagreement with her. "Yelina - "

She cut him off. "I know. This isn't the time or the place. How about coffee some time?"

How could he let her down gently without causing a scene? Yelina had a fierce temper and although he'd spoken to the Chief about his relationship with Calleigh, he had no desire to share that with anyone else yet, especially Yelina.

He knew he couldn't dismiss the invitation outright, especially since he'd need to keep in her good graces if he stood a chance of going through Raymond's things. There had to be something in his possessions that would give Horatio a clue as to what his brother had been messed up in before his death.

"Could we…uh, maybe talk about this later?" he said, noncommittally. He had no idea how he would broach the subject with her of wanting to take a look through Raymond's things.

Yelina seemed to take his words as a positive step forward and gave him a shy smile, along one of those longing looks from behind her dark eyelashes. She nodded her head and then gestured to the witness.

Horatio followed her across the salon.

"Ma'am, my name is Lieutenant Horatio Caine. Is it ok if I ask you some questions about Miss Harrigan?"

The young blonde woman looked up from her phone and gave him a sultry stare. "Sure."

He ignored the way her eyes roamed up and down his body and got straight to the point.

"When did you find Miss Harrigan?"

Danielle continued to look at him, biting her bottom lip as she did so. "Nancy likes me to get here early so that I can help her open up. I got here about 10am and the door was locked."

Horatio fought the urge to shake his head. If Nancy's Nails considered opening at mid morning was 'early' it was no wonder the business was failing.

Danielle continued, winding her blonde hair around her forefinger. "I used my key, turned on the lights and found her." She pointed to where the body had been only moments ago. "I called 911 straight away."

"It must have come as a shock to find your employer like that," Horatio suggested.

Danielle shrugged her shoulders. "Nancy had a temper on her. Miss Fancy wasn't someone she should have been messing with."

"You know Miss Delancy?" Horatio asked.

Danielle shrugged again. "She offered me a job at her salon. She said she'd double my wages."

"Did you take it?"

Danielle pursed her lips before running her tongue along them. "A girl's gotta make ends meet, sir."

"Did Nancy know you were jumping ship?"

Danielle looked genuinely sad for the briefest of moments. "I was going to tell her this morning. Looks like I don't need to now."

"Indeed," Horatio replied, surprised at her callousness. "We'll be in touch if we need any more information from you, Miss….uh - "

"Porter," the young woman supplied. "You can have my cell number. Give me yours and I'll ping it to you." She looked at him hopefully.

Horatio ignored the young woman's eyes on him as he nodded to Yelina.

"Detective Salas will make sure we have your contact details. Thank you for your time."

Feeling as if he was still being watched, Horatio made his way back over to Eric who was dusting the scene for finger prints.

"Anything interesting?" Eric asked, not looking up from his task.

Horatio stood with his hands on his hips, tapping his gold badge. "There's something about our witness," he began as Eric gave him a knowing smile.

"Yeah, I think she's got the hots for you, H."

"Eric," Horatio said, drawing out his colleague's name in a warning tone.

"She's still watching you. She's practically undressing you with her eyes."

He risked a brief glance and knew Eric was right, the woman was still staring at him.

He was about to respond when his cell phone chirped. Horatio looked at the caller ID and answered immediately.

"What have you got for me, Francis?"

"I spoke to a few guys in Organised Crime. I've got a location of a known Bandyci hangout. Want me to check it out?"

"Where is it?" Horatio asked, moving away from Eric in a bid to gain a little privacy.

"An old warehouse in Coral Gables."

Horatio glanced at his watch. "Send me the location and I'll meet you there."

Eric watched as Horatio tucked his phone back into his jacket pocket.

"Eric. There's something I need to attend to. I'll send Speed to come and help you out here."

"Everything ok?" the younger man asked.

Horatio gave him a tight smile and nodded. "Process this place with Speed and let me know if anything comes up. I'll be on my cell."

Making his way to the Hummer, Horatio felt a hand on his arm.

"You're leaving?" Yelina asked.

He didn't have time for round two with Yelina right now. There were places he needed to be. "I have to go," he said as he opened the door of the Hummer.

"Is everything ok?"

"Everything's fine," he tried to reassure her.

"About that coffee…" she began. "We need to talk. About Ray…"

He nodded his head. "We will, I promise."

* * *

Horatio glanced down at the coordinates Frank had given to him, stamping down on the feeling of deja vu as he got out of his vehicle. He shook the memories of the night of his attack from his mind and watched Frank get out of his department-issued sedan.

"This is it?" Horatio asked, hands on his hips as he surreptitiously felt for the gun at his hip, surveying the run down building covered in graffiti and spray paint.

"The intel we've got says this is one of their hideouts for stolen electronics," Frank replied.

"Seems as if they have their fingers in a lot of pies," Horatio mused as he tapped at his gold badge. "What do you say we make a house call?'

Frank paused for a moment. They would likely be heavily outnumbered should the Bandyci be home.

The burly detective shook his head in frustration as Horatio strode purposefully toward the building not waiting for his answer, peeling back a piece of metal that served as a door of sorts.

"Ah, sweet Jesus," Frank grumbled as he followed the lieutenant inside. One of these days, that stubborn sun of a bitch was going to get them both killed.

Upon entering the building, Frank was relieved to see that the place appeared unoccupied. On closer inspection, the place was full of metal shelving on which boxes of TVs, DVD players and games consoles sat.

Guns still drawn, Horatio and Frank silently made their way around the building until a deep voice stopped them suddenly.

"Who the hell are you?" an Eastern-European voice said.

"Miami Dade Police," Horatio replied, his gun trained on a scruffy looking man in overalls.

"We have receipts for all of these," the man said, gesturing to the electronics.

"Yeah, and I'm the Avon lady," Frank shot back. "Show me your hands and turn around."

The man did as he was told as Frank moved forward and patted him down. "You make one false move and my friend here is going to blow a hole in your head. You understand?"

The man stood still. "I'm not armed. It's only me here."

"Where is everyone else?" Horatio asked as Frank nodded that their suspect wasn't concealing a weapon on his person.

The man turned round to face them again as he put his hands in his overall pockets. "They're out making deliveries," he said amiably.

Frank and Horatio shared a look, fully aware of what kind of deliveries those would be.

"What's your name?" Horatio asked.

"Petr."

"You have papers to work in the U.S?"

"Of course," the man replied with a smile that faded suddenly. "Is that why you're here?"

Satisfied that the man wasn't an imminent threat, Horatio holstered his weapon and showed him a photo.

"Do you recognise this man?"

He could tell from Petr's response that he did.

"That's Anton. What happened to him?" Petr asked, looking again at the photo that had been taken of the John Doe currently residing in Alexx's morgue.

"He a Bandyci too?" Frank asked.

"We're a legitimate business. We're no gang."

Frank rolled his eyes. "You think we were born yesterday?"

"We're not here about your business interests, we're only interested in who this guy is," Horatio said. "Does Anton have a second name?"

"Novak."

"When was the last time you saw him?" Horatio continued.

Petr looked at the photo again before handing it back.

"Anton works in a different part of the business. He said he met some coloured guy who could help with our supply chain."

Horatio had guessed Petr was talking about drugs, judging by the way the man was refusing to look at him as he spoke.

"You have a name for this guy he met?" Frank asked.

Petr shook his head. "Anton didn't say. He just said that he was going to check the guy out…maybe do a little work with him and see if our business models were compatible."

"When was this?" Horatio asked.

"Last time I saw Anton was about six weeks ago. He also said that he'd been introduced to some Spanish group that wanted to help us expand but that he'd need to give them a…how do you say ...show of faith."

"These Spanish businessmen have a name?" Frank asked.

Petr thought for a moment. "The 'Mal' something, I think." Petr scratched his chin. "What happened to Anton?"

"Someone killed him. He's in our morgue back at the department. You wanna formally ID him?"

Petr looked at Frank nervously. "No way. Someone murdered him, right?"

"Looks like it," Frank answered.

"You think it was the Spaniards?" Petr asked. "You think they killed him?"

"I think maybe you might want to choose your business partners a little more carefully next time, sunshine. Any idea where we can find your Spanish friends?"

Petr shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "I don't know. Do you mind if I get back to work, I have calls to make."

"We'll be in touch," Horatio said as he followed Frank from the building.

"What do you think?" Frank asked as they walked back to their vehicles.

Horatio put his sunglasses back on. "They're up to more than just stolen electronics. You ever heard of the gang he was taking about?"

Frank huffed. "Sounds like the Mala Noche. They've been building numbers in the last year or so."

"Hmmm. Maybe we should give them a visit too?"

Frank nodded his head toward Petr as the man left the building and headed to a rusted sedan, the tyres squealing as he pulled away at speed.

"I get a feeling the Bandyci are gonna make some house calls of their own."

"Sounds like we might have just stumbled into a turf war, Francis."

The thought of being caught in the crossfire made Frank feel uneasy.

"Now that you've got what you needed, maybe we should keep ourselves out of it?" the detective suggested.

Horatio glanced at Frank before looking in the direction that Petr had sped away in. "I still don't know how this relates to Raymond."

"Maybe you don't want to, either."

Horatio shook his head. "The Bandyci and the Mala Noche are running drugs all across this city. Maybe Raymond was on to them…maybe that's why he was silenced."

"Then leave this up to the Narcos, Horatio."

He gave Frank a sad smile. "I can't do that, Francis. If someone wanted to get my attention with Anton's body, they've got it."

"Maybe if we play this right, they'll take each other out."

Horatio turned to look at his colleague. "That still won't get me any closer to finding out why Raymond was involved with this."

Frank could see the glint in Horatio's eyes, the steely blue orbs just visible over the aviator sunglasses. "Why do I get the feeling you're planning to go all 'Lone Ranger'?"

Horatio pulled out the keys to the Hummer and pulled himself into the driver's seat. "If I need a Tonto, I'll let you know, Frank."

Pulling himself into his own car, Frank shook his head made a call. "Hey, it's Tripp," he said as the caller answered, "there's something you need to know."


	11. Chapter 11

"Hey, man," Eric smiled as he joined Speed in the Trace lab. "Did you drop the DNA samples off at Valera's lab?"

Speed rolled his eyes before returning his gaze to the piece of fabric he'd been studying with a magnifying glass.

"I did it as soon as I got back," he replied gruffly. "Anything else you wanna check up on?"

Eric held his hands up in submission. "Hey, just being friendly."

Timothy Speedle shot his colleague a sour look before carrying on with his work.

"Maybe all this work and no play is making you grumpy," Eric suggested. "When was the last time you had a night out?"

Speed placed the fabric and magnifying glass down and looked at Eric once more. "Why are you so concerned about my social life, aren't you still dating that girl Rosita?"

Eric waved a hand dismissively. "She was last month. I met this hot girl Juanita the other night…"

"Well, I'm happy for you," Speed replied, his expression clearly communicating that he wasn't.

Eric shrugged on his lab coat and pulled up a stool. "There's a new club opening down in South Beach tonight called Heaven, you wanna come check it out? I asked Cal, but she said she's busy." Eric snapped a pair of disposable gloves on. "She's always busy lately. I bet she's seeing someone," he mused.

Speed shot Eric an incredulous look. For someone who was supposedly a ladies man, Eric could be entirely clueless at times.

"You think it's that guy from the FBI?" Eric asked, opening an envelope containing another piece of evidence collected from the crime scene.

"Try a little closer to home," Speed suggested, returning his focus back to the evidence.

"No way it's Hagen," Eric said, "besides, no one's seen him for weeks. If it was Hagen he'd be sniffing around her like a dog on heat."

Speed said nothing, shaking his head.

"We'd know if she was dating someone in the lab. You know what the gossip's like round here," Eric continued. "My money's on that guy from the FBI."

How could Eric still not see it? Anyone who bothered to pay attention could see that something had changed between Horatio and Calleigh since the night of the attack - the subtle glances, the way they spoke to each other...

It seemed as if Eric was oblivious to anything that happened past the end of his own nose and the temptation to take advantage of it was too good for Speed to resist.

"How about you put your money where your mouth is, Delko?" Speed said as he pulled a $50 bill from his wallet.

"Easy money," Eric grinned as they shook on it, only disengaging when they heard someone clearing their throat in the doorway.

"Have you found anything interesting yet, gentleman?"

Eric looked slightly guilty as he caught sight of Horatio with his hands on his hips. "We were just talking about that H."

The look that Horatio gave them made it obvious that he'd caught them talking about distinctly non work-related matters. His expression was more amused than annoyed.

"Uniforms managed to track down Miss Delancy. She's on her way to PD now. Speed and I are working our way through the evidence we collected at the scene."

"Any word from Alexx yet?" Horatio asked.

Eric shook his head. "Still waiting."

Horatio nodded his head, calling over his shoulder to Eric. "I hope you have a good time at Heaven tonight."

Eric felt Speed's hand patting him on the back as he coughed nervously. Had Horatio been standing there the whole time?

* * *

Making his way to his office, Horatio stopped by the front desk to collect his messages from Paula. Nodding his thanks, he began to look through the sheaf of papers she'd passed him.

"Horatio," Yelina's voice was unmistakable.

"Yelina," he replied, not wanting to get into another awkward conversation with her. "What can I do for you?"

The detective matched him stride for stride as they walked down the corridor.

"I thought you'd want to know that we have Miss Delancy in an interview room. I wondered if you wanted to join me in talking to her?"

It was the last thing he wanted to do right now. His present focus was on a dead gang member whose death matched that of his brother closely. How had Raymond mixed up with them?

There was something he was missing, some key piece of information that would join everything together and make sense as to why the death of an Eastern European thug mirrored that of his brother.

There had been so much that Raymond had kept close to his chest regarding his undercover work in Narcotics. The relationship between the two of them had been particularly strained in the twelve months before Raymond 's death. They were barely communicating with each other, let alone speaking like siblings.

Maybe there was something in Raymond's journals that would give him a clue as to how all the pieces fit together. His brother had often kept note pads and journals with scribbles and drawings. As much as Horatio was a reader, Raymond was man who had an artistic streak in him, often doodling and drawing caricatures of the people around him.

"I have something I need to do, Yelina," Horatio said as he glanced at her briefly. "I'm sure you can handle the preliminary enquiries. You can borrow Speed or Eric if you need to."

"You have somewhere more important to be?" Yelina asked, the hurt in her tone clear.

"I'm sorry," he responded quietly. "I was…uh…wondering what your plans were for tonight though?"

The question caught Yelina by surprise, so much so that she'd stopped walking and looked at him with a smile on her face.

"I can make us dinner if you like," she offered, her tone completely different now.

Horatio frowned. "I'm not sure when I'll be able to get out tonight. I might be able to make it for desert, or coffee?"

"Ray Jr will be so happy to see you. He's been asking about you."

Horatio smiled and this time it was a genuine one. "I've missed him. He and I have some catching up to do."

"So I'll see you tonight?" Yelina asked.

"Of course," Horatio replied as he headed into his office.

* * *

Horatio tapped his desk idly as he worked through the thoughts swirling in his mind. At least he and Frank had finally got an ID on the body in the morgue. The next thing to do was to figure out how any of this related to Raymond.

Perhaps it had been cowardly not to ask Yelina outright as to whether he could look through Raymond's things, but it had been a large part of the reason why he'd agreed to talk with her. He just needed to find the right words to explain why he needed to look through his brother's belongings. At least Ray Jr would be there, perhaps that would prevent Yelina from unleashing the worst of her temper on him again.

He'd been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't heard Calleigh enter the room until she'd closed the door forcefully behind her.

"Calleigh - "

"When were you going to tell me?" she asked as she stood with her hands on her hips, her expression one of outright fury.

He had no idea what she was talking about. "Tell you what?"

"I spoke to Frank earlier."

"I see," he replied in a sour tone. He had thought he could trust Frank to keep their meeting with the Bandyci between them.

"Are you out of your mind?" she continued, "they could have killed you!"

He stood and moved towards her. "We only went there to ask some questions."

"On your own?"

Horatio rubbed his forehead. "The body in the morgue has something to do with Raymond. I'm trying to figure out how he's messed up in all of this."

Calleigh took a deep breath, trying to keep her anger under control. "Horatio, I know you want to find out what happened to Raymond, but this is insane. You can't keep taking this on by yourself. You can't keep hiding things from me."

"Calleigh, you don't deserve to get mixed up in this," he tried to placate her. "The less you know the better."

"I think I have a right to know when the man I'm falling in love with is running off on his own trying to play hero!"

Horatio froze, looking for all the world as if he'd been slapped.

"What did you just say?" he asked quietly, a look of shock on his face.

Calleigh had regretted her harsh words the moment they had spilled unbidden from her lips. "I'm sorry, Horatio. That was out of line."

Horatio shook his head. "No, the bit before that. What did you say?"

It took a moment for Calleigh to recall what she'd said in the heat of her anger. There was a look of surprise on her own face when the words returned to her.

"I said I'm falling in love with you."

He nodded his head, still looking dazed. "That's what I thought you'd said." He shook his head as if pulling himself from his thoughts. "Did you mean that?"

She took a step towards him and placed her hands on his arms. "Of course I did. Even though I'm so mad that I could strangle you right now." She looked at him for a number of moments. "It's ok if you don't want to say it back."

He looked at her intently. "Calleigh, I've loved you from the moment we met. I've loved you ever since." He gave her a sincere smile, "You beguile and bewitch me…I could spend forever trying to work you out and I don't think it would ever be enough, but it would be a great way to spend the rest of my life."

She beamed at him. "Well, for a man who says he's not good with emotions, that sure sounded like one of the sweetest things I've ever heard."

He squirmed slightly and looked embarrassed. "No one has ever stood up to me like you do. You make me feel things I never thought I would again. It's quite intoxicating."

Maybe that's what had been missing from his life, the love and support of a strong woman.

All too often he had been placed in the role of protector, even for his mother as he shielded both her and Raymond from the flailing fists of his father. Perhaps he had always consciously sought the company of women who needed him to fulfil that role. Calleigh had been the first woman he'd dated that wouldn't be brushed aside with half-truths and non-committal responses. She made him work hard and a part of him loved her even more for it.

"I told you, Horatio. We're in this together," she said as broke away from the contact. "If you keep hiding from me, I'm gonna chase you down and find you, no matter where you go. We're a team, ok?"

He grinned at her. "Yes, ma'am." The smile died as he realised he would have to tell her of his plans for the night. "I…uh…I need to head over to Yelina's after work tonight."

"Ok," she said evenly.

"I need to go through Raymond's things to see if I can find anything that links him to the body in the morgue," he explained. "I also owe it to her to let her know where she stands."

Calleigh tried to keep her tone neutral, even though she felt a pang of jealously at the sound of the detective's name. "What time will you be back?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Probably not until late," he replied before he walked back to his desk and pulled something from the drawer. He handed the small box over to her. "I've got something for you though."

Her eyes lit up at the sight of the box, pulling on the gold ribbon that had been tied into a bow. Opening the box carefully, she saw the key sitting inside. Checking that the coast was clear, she walked over to Horatio and gave him a hug, kissing him on the cheek.

"Thank you," she breathed, touched by the gesture. Horatio was a fiercely private man, giving her a key to his place was a sign of how much he trusted her.

"I like waking up next to you," Horatio said, looking a little embarrassed "I could get used to it."

And she had found herself getting used to waking up in his arms in the morning too. Although it had only been a few short weeks, it felt as if it were the most natural thing in the world to spend time with him. They had found themselves falling into an easy pattern of living together. Giving her a key had been a clear indication that Horatio wanted it to continue.

"I'll see you tonight?" Horatio asked as he watched Calleigh leave the room.

"You betcha, cowboy."

He admired her pert behind as she sashayed away, completely entranced by her. She could be as stubborn and strong-willed as he and he found himself falling even more in love with her for it. Her refusal to back down and let him hide away had been something he'd need to get used to, but it made her even more alluring to him.

As frustrated as he'd been that she'd found out about his excursion with Frank this afternoon, he knew he couldn't be mad with her. He could voice his displeasure to Frank though.

He picked up his cell phone and dialled the detective's number.

"Francis," he began, his tone clearly conveying that he wasn't happy.

"Calleigh spoke to you then," the detective replied.

"I thought we had a gentleman's agreement."

Frank huffed. "Given a choice, who do you think I'd rather was mad at me - you or a woman who'd hunt me down with a Glock in each hand?"

He had to admit that Frank had a point - there would be no way that he would want to end up on the wrong side of Calleigh Duquesne. Given the same options, he probably would have done the same. It didn't stop him being annoyed with the man though.

"I thought we were keeping this to ourselves," Horatio persisted.

"Yeah, well that was before you started kicking at the hornet's nest. You're not just going to need a Tonto, you're gonna need a whole goddamn army if you start taking on these gangs."

"I appreciate your concern, but I can handle this myself, Frank."

"I bet that's what your brother thought and it didn't turn out so well for him either."

Speechless, Horatio hung up on the detective and threw his cell phone on his desk. Part of hime was furious that Frank would stoop so low, and yet another part of him knew the man was right. He was wading into some pretty murky waters with no idea of what waited for him on the other side. Right now, he didn't care about the risks he was taking, he only wanted to finally get to the truth of what had happened to Raymond and why he had paid for it with his life.


	12. Chapter 12

"Horatio," Yelina smiled as she opened the door wider and allowed her visitor to step inside, "You missed dinner but you're just in time for desert. Have you eaten yet?"

He gave her an awkward smile as he followed her through to the kitchen. "I haven't eaten all day. Desert would be great."

"Uncle Horatio!"

Horatio turned at the sound of Ray Jr's voice. "Hey, buddy. School ok?"

Ray Jr rolled his eyes. "School is boring. Wanna come play a video game with me?"

Ray Jr looked at his mother hopefully.

She nodded her head. "Go on. Go and have some fun."

Yelina smiled as she watched her young son follow Horatio into the lounge. She could hear the games console and Ray Jr laughing at something.

It had been far too long since she had heard her son laugh. Ray Jr had been sullen and quiet any time Rick Stetler had been there. He had been through so much for someone so young and it was clear that Horatio had a positive effect on him.

The relationship between she and Horatio had been strained recently, especially in the aftermath of his attack. Emotions that she had thought she'd buried had come rushing back to the surface when she learned of what had happened to him. She had tried to deny to herself that she felt anything for him, and yet her first instinct when she visited him in the hospital had been one of fierce protectiveness and love.

Things had become more complicated when it was clear that Calleigh Duquesne had feelings for Horatio that ran deeper than that of close work colleagues. What had hurt the most was that Horatio had chosen the blonde woman over her. After everything they had been through, all of their shared history, she had been replaced by another woman.

The rejection stung painfully and so she had reacted in the same way that she always had - with anger. Her fiery nature had added fuel to an already passionate relationship with Raymond with both of them being combative and stubborn. Horatio had always had such a tight lid on his emotions and was gentle and calming, she had realised all too late that lashing out at him had only pushed him further away and into the arms of another woman.

She watched Horatio talking and laughing with Ray Jr all through their shared desert. She had ached to see him turn his head toward her and share the smile that came so easily when he engaged with the young boy.

"Ray, go upstairs and do your homework please," she told him as she cleared the empty plates away.

"But I want to spend time with Uncle Horatio. He hasn't visited in ages," the boy sulked.

Horatio motioned to the stairs. "Maybe we can shoot some hoops before I leave," Horatio paused as he saw the boy's eyes light up, "after you do your homework?"

Ray Jr rolled his eyes. "Okaaaaaaay."

"You're good with him," Yelina said, watching her son leave the room.

"He's a good kid. I've missed spending time with him."

Yelina looked at him intently for a number of moments before he looked away.

"Yelina…there's something you should know."

She continued to look at him, waiting for him to continue.

"I'm….uh…things between us have been strained recently."

Her stance toward him softened. "Horatio, I'm sorry for some of the things I said. All this talk of Raymond has brought up some difficult memories."

"The fact that I haven't been entirely honest with you probably hasn't helped either," Horatio suggested.

"About what?"

He kept his gaze to the ground. "About us…. About Raymond."

"Us?"

How would he tell her that he only saw her as family now and nothing more?

"You should…uh…you should know that I'm seeing someone. I care for you a great deal, Yelina. Just…"

"Not like that?" she clarified.

He nodded his head, refusing to look at her.

"Is that why you came here tonight?" she asked.

He squirmed slightly, wondering how he could possibly frame his request in a way that wouldn't cause her to lash out at him again.

"Not just that," he said as he rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. "I wanted to ask you if I could look through Raymond's things. There might be something that links all of this together."

"You want to go through his things?" she asked, her voice rising. "What makes you think that you have the right to come round here and ask that?"

"Please, Yelina," he tried to mollify her, "everything fits together somehow. Maybe if I can find out who attacked me, I can finally find out who killed Raymond."

"So this is about you?"

He pinched the bridge of his noise in frustration at her insistence on being so obtuse. "No. It's about finding out what really happened to Raymond and clearing his name once and for all. I owe him that at least."

She could hear the sadness in his voice and knew that he still blamed himself for his brother's death, that he still felt he could have done something more to save him from his fate. She was furious at him for asking, but she couldn't deny him the chance of allowing him to finally make things right and make peace with his brother's passing.

"His things are in the garage," she said quietly before walking from the room.

Horatio hadn't realised how much time had passed until he heard Ray Jr's voice behind him.

"Why are you looking through Dad's stuff?" the boy asked.

Placing the box he was holding on to the workbench, Horatio turned to look at his nephew.

"Your dad liked to draw a lot. I was hoping I could maybe find something that might help me work out what happened to him."

He wasn't sure if Ray Jr would truly understand what he meant by that. The boy was still so young and innocent. He would do anything to protect the boy from the harsh realities of this world.

"I miss him," the boy said sadly.

"Me too, son."

He watched as Ray peered into one of the unopened boxes. The young boy pulled out a framed photo and handed it to Horatio.

The photo had been of the two brothers on the day that Raymond had graduated the police academy and had become an officer. The two of them looked so young.

They looked happy.

The fact that Raymond had kept the picture had come as a huge surprise to Horatio. Far too much of their relationship before Raymond's death had been strained. The two of them often went weeks without speaking to each other and even when they did, the conversations were usually clipped and to the point.

Placing the framed photo to one side, Horatio shook the rest of the contents on to the work bench, taking a small step backward when he saw the myriad of pictures Raymond had kept of the two of them together. An involuntary gasp escaped his lips as he suddenly realised that his brother cared for him far more than he ever realised. He suddenly felt awful that the two of them had wasted so much time by arguing and fighting with each other.

"Are you ok, Uncle Horatio?"

He turned to look at the boy and nodded his head. "It just brings back a lot of memories, that's all," he gave Ray Jr a sad smile.

Ray Jr looked at him, the boy's lip quivering slightly as he tried to hold his tears back.

"Mom and Dad used to fight a lot when he was home. They were always arguing about something. It used to scare me. I always liked it when you were here."

Horatio said nothing, continuing to look at the photos and unsure of how to respond.

"You don't come round any more, Uncle Horatio. That Stetler man makes Mom sad. They yell and she gets upset. She thinks I don't know when she's been crying, but I do. He's not nice to her."

Horatio took a step toward his nephew, kneeling down to meet his eyes.

"Has he hurt her?" Horatio asked, trying to keep his voice even. "Has he hurt you?"

The boy looked at him intently. "I heard them fighting a few weeks ago. They were shouting at each other and then I heard a really loud bang. It scared me so I hid in my room." Ray Jr looked at his uncle who encouraged him to continue with a nod of his head. "Then, when he picked me up from school the other week, he yelled at me in the car."

It took all of Horatio's self control not to lose his temper in front of the boy. How dare Stetler terrorise the poor boy like that!

Horatio took a deep breath, placing his hands on his nephew's shoulders and giving them a light squeeze. "Here's what I want you to do," he began giving Ray jr what he hoped was an encouraging smile, "any time you feel scared or afraid, you ring me, ok?"

The boy nodded.

"It doesn't matter what time of day or night, you give me a call and I'll be straight there. You don't ever have to feel scared in your own home, ok?"

He enveloped his nephew in a tight hug, only disengaging when he heard Yelina's voice from the doorway.

"It's time for bed, Ray," she told her son.

"But Uncle Horatio and I haven't shot any hoops yet," the young boy whined.

She shook her head. "It's a school night. Maybe some other time."

Ray Jr glared at his mother before stomping away, only stopping to wave to Horatio.

"Have you found what you needed?" she asked him warily.

Horatio shook his head. "I was hoping I could take the boxes with me so I could look through Raymond's journals."

Yelina didn't look happy at the thought, but relented seeing the look on his face.

"I'll have them back to you in a few days, if that's ok?"

She nodded and watched as he carried several of the boxes to his vehicle, placing them gently inside, knowing how precious the items were to Yelina.

He lifted the last box in his arms and turned to face her. "I'll take good care of them, I promise."

She gave him a small smile. "You always do."

He placed the last box in his vehicle and shut the door, unsure of whether his next words would be wise. She would not react well to what he had to say, yet he would not stand for his nephew to be terrified in his own home.

He began carefully, "Ray Jr told me about Stetler."

"What about him?" she shot back defensively.

He stood with his hands on his hips - his classic posture of authority. "The poor boy is terrified of him."

"He said that?"

"He didn't need to."

He could see the mists of rage descend over her eyes as her temper ignited. "What does any of this have to do with you?"

"He's my nephew. I care about him...like I would a son."

"What gives you the right to question my parenting when you have a child that you won't even acknowledge is yours?"

The words stopped him cold like a slap to the face. The urge to tell her the truth was strong - that Maddison was Raymond's daughter and not his.

She gave him a withering look. "Talk to me about being a parent when you've been one, Horatio. Take whatever you want and leave." She turned her back on him and headed back inside, not giving him a chance to respond.

* * *

He had stewed on the conversation on the drive back to his house and the sight of Calleigh's car in his driveway lifted his spirits somewhat. He smiled as she opened the door and greeted him warmly. Her smile faltering when she saw the look on his face.

"Everything ok?" she asked as she took the box from his arms and gave him a hug. She could feel him physically melt into the embrace.

"It's just been a long day."

She disengaged and held him at arms length, giving him a visual once over. She couldn't remember a time when she had ever seen him look this tired, even after the team had pulled all-nighters on cases. He looked as if he could fall asleep standing up.

"You wanna hand with those boxes?" she asked, smiling at him as he nodded gratefully.

Dinner had been a quiet affair. Calleigh tried to keep the conversation flowing and several times had to nudge her lover to eat as he sat twirling the stem of his wine glass, frequently zoning out from whatever she was saying.

"Ok, that's enough," she said as she grabbed his arms and pulled him upright. "Go and grab a shower and then come to the lounge with me."

He gave her a questioning look but complied with her request. He was too darned tired to argue with her tonight.

Freshly showered and in jogging bottoms and a t-shirt, he did as he was told as Calleigh commanded him to sit on the floor with his back to the couch. He could feel her sit down behind him, her legs on either side of him.

"Take your top off," she ordered him.

He turned his head to look at her and cocked an eyebrow suggestively.

"Get your mind out of your pants and do as you're told."

As tired as he was, the sound of Calleigh being so forceful with him was more than a little alluring. He could feel certain parts of his body reacting to her take no prisoners attitude.

He cleared his throat and took his shirt off. "Anything else, ma'am?"

She swatted him gently on the shoulder. "Turn around and relax."

Her hands had worked wonders on his tired and aching muscles and he hadn't realised just how tense he had been until her hands had begun expertly loosening his neck and shoulders. Her hands had travelled his upper body in a hypnotic rhythm that was quickly dragging him toward a wonderful nothingness. He could feel his eyes grow heavy as her hands continued to work their magic.

He could have sat there for hours, letting her hands roam his body. He couldn't remember a time when he'd ever felt this relaxed.

"Where did you learn to do that?" he asked as he got up from the floor and joined her on the couch.

She gave him a wolfish smile. "I'm a woman of many hidden talents."

He grinned at her. "Really?"

It suddenly occurred to him that no one had ever done anything quite so thoughtful for him before. He had become so used to being the one to take care of others that he hadn't realised how good it felt to be the one looked after for once. Surrendering control and trusting another person was not something that came easily to him, and yet Calleigh had somehow found a way to do that with seeming ease.

He leaned toward her and kissed her deeply, leaning his forehead on hers. "Thank you."

"What for?"

He sat back and ran a hand through his hair. "No one has ever done something like that for me."

She looked confused. "No one's given you a massage before?"

He shook his head, taking her hands and raising them to his lips to kiss them tenderly. "No one's taken care of me like that before."

Her expression was one of genuine shock. "What, ever?"

He shook his head sadly. "I told you, I'm not good at letting people in."

He felt her hand on his chin as she raised his head to look her in the eye. "I think you're doing a pretty good job so far."

He sighed. "I'm still learning. I'm probably going to get it seriously wrong at some point so I just want you to know that I think you're one of the most…" His words trailed off as he tried to find a suitable adjective.

"Fierce?"

"Stubborn?"

"Headstrong?"

"Argumentative women you've ever met?"

He laughed at her suggestions. "You're all of those and more. There's something about you that gets past all my defences. I'm finding that hard to deal with. It makes me feel unsure about so many things, but I do know one thing for certain."

"What's that?"

He looked at her intently, his blue eyes showing nothing but raw emotion and honestly. "I'm not quite sure what I ever did without you. I thought I loved you before, but now I know that I'm falling hopelessly, helplessly in love with you."

Her only response was to climb into his lap before pushing him down onto his back on the couch, their hands clawing at each other's clothes in uncontrolled passion.


	13. Chapter 13

Standing in the break room, Horatio nodded to Eric and the others as they entered.

"Morning, H," Eric said, looking more than a little worse for wear as he ran a hand over his short-cropped hair.

"I take it you enjoyed Heaven last night?" Horatio said, a smile tugging at his lips as Calleigh gave him a questioning look. "I'll tell you later," he mouthed to her when Eric wasn't looking.

"Where did we get to with the evidence from the nail salon?" Horatio asked, handing out takeaway cups of coffee to everyone.

Speed frowned in his usual way, his expression giving away nothing. "We're still waiting for the results from the epithelials we found on the nail file. Nancy's assistant volunteered a DNA sample but so far Fancy Delancy is refusing. She says it's against her 5th amendment rights."

"Hmmm," Horatio responded as he took a sip of his coffee. "Sounds like Miss Delancy has something to hide. Did her alibi check out?"

"Detective Salas is making some calls this morning to verify," Eric added.

"Follow that up for me will you, gentlemen."

Horatio opened his mouth to say something when a knocking noise came from the door. Frank Tripp stuck his head round. "Horatio, can I have a word?"

Turning to his team, Horatio spoke, "As you were, keep me in the loop about then salon case." He left the room, closing the door behind him and followed Frank down the hallway.

"We have a problem," the detective said.

"What kind of problem?"

Frank looked to his left and right before speaking again. Whatever he was about to say probably wasn't good, Horatio surmised.

"It's probably better that I show you. Meet me at the Bandyci warehouse."

—

Fire trucks were still on scene as Horatio got out of his vehicle, surveying the burnt remains of the warehouse that he and Frank had visited yesterday. Looking to his left, he saw Frank get out of his car and walk toward him.

"What happened?" Horatio asked. It seemed like a redundant question and he had a feeling he already knew the answer. Still, he asked the question all the same.

"Reports came in of a building on fire in the early hours of the morning. The fire crews think it was started deliberately. Looks like a petrol bomb of some sort."

"Maybe those electronics were a little too hot," Horatio suggested.

Frank did not look amused. "There were two drive-bys in Little Havana last night."

Horatio put the pieces together. "You think Petr and his friends paid a little visit to the Mala Noche last night?"

Frank sighed heavily. "Looks like the Mala Noche returned the favour, too." He stared at Horatio intently for a number of moments. "This is getting real messy real quickly."

"You think this will escalate further?"

Frank folded his arms over his chest. "I think this only just the beginning. This is going to end up in a full on war if we're not careful."

* * *

"How's the head?" Speed asked his colleague as he poured himself another cup of coffee, passing one to Eric who looked pale and sweaty, the hangover now in full effect.

Eric raised an eyebrow, grinning despite how ill he felt. "One more drink always seems like a good idea at the time."

"Until you wake up the next day," Speed added.

Eric nodded his head gingerly, feeling the pulsing of his headache keeping time with his heartbeat. "Do you think H noticed?"

The look Speed shot him made it clear to Eric that their boss was under no illusions as to what he'd gotten up to last night.

"I half expected him to tear me a new one," Eric said, grimacing at the bitter taste of the coffee Speed had handed him.

"Be thankful he's in a good mood then," Speed replied.

"He's been in a good mood a lot lately. Maybe he's seeing someone?"

Speed rolled his eyes. "Is your mind always in your pants?"

Eric refused to rise to the bait. "Seriously though, don't you think H has been…well….more relaxed lately?"

"Since when do you care about H's mood?"

Eric laughed. "It's got to be a woman. It's the only logical conclusion. Only a woman can put a smile like that on a man's face."

"To you, perhaps."

"I bet it's Yelina Salas. There's something going on there for sure."

Speed raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

Eric continued, undeterred. "How about we double our bet," he suggested, referring to their early wager that had so far remained unresolved. "$50 dollars says it's Yelina that put that smile on his face."

It seemed almost mean to take Eric's money, Speed thought, under no illusions as to what had puta spring in the step of both Calleigh and Horatio lately. But a bet was a bet, and he would take any chance he could to get one over on Eric.

"Deal," Speed said as the two men shook hands.

* * *

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Horatio said as he stood in front of the Chief's desk, his hands behind his back, his posture stiff.

"At ease, Horatio," the Chief said as he motioned for his subordinate to take a seat. "It's been a busy day so far, I hear."

Horatio nodded, conscious that the Chief would already be aware of the escalating violence between the Bandyci and the Mala Noche. He thought it best not to volunteer that it had likely been he and Frank who had lit the blue touch paper and started the whole thing.

"We need to get on top of this as soon as possible. I don't want the situation getting out of hand."

"Understood, Chief," Horatio replied as he stood, intending to leave and get back to work.

"Sit down please," the Chief said, "there's something else I need to discuss with you."

Horatio looked intently at his superior.

"I've made a decision about the disclosure you made to me recently."

"I see," Horatio said evenly, already feeling his heart rate increase. He braced himself for what would probably be bad news.

"I've thought about it long and hard," the Chief began, "I've given it a great deal of consideration and whichever way you cut it, there's no easy solution to it."

Horatio kept his gaze down. "Understood, Chief. You'll have my transfer request on your desk by the end of the day."

"I haven't finished yet," the Chief replied, his tone gently chiding.

Horatio's head shot up to look at him. "Sir?"

"Relationships between subordinates and their direct superiors are frowned upon for good reason. There is always the possibility that people could take advantage of that situation."

"Sir, you have my word that I would never do that."

The Chief smiled at him. "I think I know you well enough to know that's the case. However, it's not you who I'm concerned would take advantage of it. Defence lawyers, criminals…they would probably claim that any case you and Officer Duquesne were involved in could be compromised. Plus, there are a few people in the department who have an axe to grind with you and are just waiting for the chance to stick the knife in."

Horatio had no doubt as to who the Chief was referring to. It had been one of the reasons he'd revealed his relationship with Calleigh to him in the first place.

"I've spoken to the night shift supervisor and I think I've come to a decision that I think would be agreeable to all parties involved," the Chief said.

Horatio kept quiet, suddenly feeling as if his relationship with Calleigh was being treated as nothing more than a business merger.

"The only way this will work is if yourself and Officer Duquesne no longer actively work cases together."

"So you'll transfer one of us to the night shift?"

Horatio's heart sank at the thought. If they worked opposite shifts, they would hardly see each other and that would likely signal the death knell of their relationship.

"No," the Chief replied, "it just means that unless there is a dire situation, the two of you will work separate cases. Any overtime, vacation leave, sick days or expenditures you sign off on for Officer Duquesne will be scrutinised by the night shift supervisor. All supervision meetings or appraisals for Officer Duquesne will also be dealt with by them."

"And Peters is ok with that?" Horatio asked, still stunned that the Chief had gone to such lengths to find a suitable solution that would mean he and Calleigh could be together and keep their current jobs.

The Chief smiled. "She says she owes you for disarming that bomb at the federal building back in '99."

"I was just doing my job, sir."

"And I expect both you and Officer Duquesne to keep doing yours. I don't want to lose two of my best people. It doesn't seem fair for me to stop you from being happy. You're a good man, Horatio. You deserve a little luck and I think you've done more than enough to earn it."

"I don't quite know what to say, sir."

"There's no need to say anything," the Chief said as both men stood and shook hands. "I trust you won't let me down. It goes without saying that I will be extremely disappointed if you do."

The Chief still had hold of his hand and the unspoken threat was clear - if either he or Calleigh put a foot out of line regarding their relationship in the workplace, the Chief would come down on both of them heavily.

Released from the Chief's grip, Horatio left the room and sent a text message to Calleigh.

 _Can you meet me at my house tonight? There's something we need to talk about._

* * *

Walking to the car park, Horatio stretched his neck to the left and right, feeling the effects of a long and tiring day.

What had started as a couple of isolated incidents the previous night had turned into a full on war between the rival gang members of the Bandyci and the Mala Noche. Several more crime scenes and bodies had caused a back log in the lab that would likely take several days to clear. If the violence continued to escalate, there would be no way the team could keep on top of the sheer amount of evidence to process.

Still, there was nothing more that could be done tonight and so Horatio had handed over to the night shift supervisor Eleanor Peters, intent on sharing the news of his earlier discussion with the Chief to Calleigh.

Fishing in his pants pocket for his car keys, Horatio felt the air leave his body in a rush as someone grabbed his arms from behind and pushed him roughly onto the vehicle.

"What the hell?" Horatio growled out as he tried to turn his head to look at the assailant.

"Keep still, Caine and this won't hurt a bit," a male voice said from behind him. Whoever they were, there were at least two of them.

"If you don't let me go, I guarantee it will hurt," Horatio threatened.

He felt someone push him further into the side of his car. "That mouth of yours has been getting you into trouble recently. You'd think you would have learned to keep it shut by now."

It was futile trying to break out of the grip one of the men had on him. Whoever he was, he was stronger and he himself was at a disadvantage with his hands pinned behind him.

"What do you want?"

He felt the hot breath in his ear as one of the men sneered at him. "Do you have any idea how long we've been tracking these gangs… how much work has gone into infiltrating them?"

"Are you Feds?"

Horatio felt himself being turned around to face the men who had grabbed him. "You've just ruined years of work, you asshole!"

Horatio huffed at the two men standing before him, baseball caps kept low on their heads. These federal agents weren't stupid and would know how to avoid detection by the department's security cameras.

"You want me to apologise for doing my job?"

One of the men grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket and threw him roughly against the vehicle again.

"We want you to keep your goddamn mouth shut and stay out of our business!"

"They made it my business when they came after me and threatened my family," Horatio shot back.

"Stay out of it, Caine," one of the men warned. "Consider this your only warning."

Horatio was about to reply when a punch caught him straight in the stomach, followed by another two hits to his midsection, he gasped for breath and sank to his knees.

"Next time we won't ask so nicely."

He could do nothing but watch as the two men walked away, leaving him on his hands and knees and groaning in agony.

* * *

Calleigh glanced at her cell phone for the third time in as many minutes. She could feel the tendrils of fear creep through her as the minutes ticked by, knowing that Horatio should have been home more than an hour ago.

It wasn't like him to not respond to her messages and calls and the feeling that something was badly wrong began to take hold. It had happened like this last time…. Horatio had been attacked and left for dead and she still blamed herself for not following her instincts and checking up on him sooner.

What if it happened again?

What if they had killed him this time?

Mind made up, she grabbed her keys from the coffee table and made for the front door, only to be stopped by the sight of Horatio opening it.

"Where have you - "

She stopped mid-sentence as she took in his appearance. Half of his shirt was untucked and his right hand was wrapped firmly around his midsection. He grimaced as she took another step toward him.

She grabbed him almost roughly and sat him down on the couch in the living room.

"What the hell happened?" she asked, unable to keep the fear from her voice.

"I got paid a little visit when I was leaving the lab tonight."

"Who did this…have you reported it?"

Horatio shook his head and let out a pained groan. "There's no point. It was the feds."

"Federal officers did this to you?" she asked incredulously.

Horatio nodded, "That visit Frank and I paid to the Bandyci…looks like it might have started something between them and the Mala Noche."

"What did they want?"

Horatio smirked and then thought better of it as a flash of pain shot through his torso. "They told me to shut my mouth and stay out of their business."

"And you're going to?"

It was more of an order than a question.

Horatio tried to give her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. She wasn't fooled.

"Seriously?!"

He held out a hand to her only to have it brushed away.

"Horatio, this obsession has got to stop. Look at you!"

He moved to get up only to be stopped by the agonising pain in his chest. He let out a loud groan as he sank back down into the couch.

Calleigh had seen enough. "Right, that's it. I'm taking you to the E.R."

"No," he gasped. "I'll be fine."

Calleigh wasn't convinced. "Let me take a look at least," she said as she helped him carefully from his suit jacket and undid the buttons of his shirt. Her eyes widened when she saw the deep bruising across his chest and abdomen. "If you won't go to the hospital, then I'm calling Alexx."

He nodded his head as another bout of pain came over him, knowing that this was one argument he wouldn't win.

Fifty minutes later and with a packet of frozen peas held against his midsection, Horatio growled at Alexx. "I told you, I'm fine."

Never one to be denied, Alexx grabbed her penlight from her back and commanded her reluctant patient to follow it with his eyes.

"What day is it?" She asked.

"Wednesday."

"Where are we?"

"My house."

"Name the best basketball team in New York."

Horatio grinned, knowing that Alexx was just as much a fan of the NBA as he was.

"The Knicks."

Alexx switched off the penlight, satisfied with the neurological exam. "His mental faculties are fine," the doctor said to Calleigh who stood nervously in the doorway. "His ribs however are another matter."

"My ribs are fine, Alexx," Horatio said tiredly, yelping as Alexx placed a finger on one of the bruises.

"They're fine, huh?" she tutted at him. "Looks like they got you in the same spot as the ones you broke. They're cracked again at least."

"I'm not going back to that damn hospital, Alexx. I've only just got out."

"Give them a couple of days rest and keep icing them and they should heal by themselves."

Horatio shook his head. "If you're saying what I think you're saying…there's no way I'm not going to work tomorrow. There's too much that needs to be done.

"Horatio - " the doctor said imploring her stubborn friend to see reason.

"It's not up for discussion," Horatio shot back, his position resolute.

Alexx held her hands up. "Fine. But I'm ordering you to go to bed and rest tonight."

Horatio gave Alexx's hand a reassuring squeeze. "That I can do," he said, groaning deeply as both Calleigh and Alexx helped him to his feet and towards his bedroom.

"Give him a hand, will you, Calleigh?" Alexx said as she began rifling through Horatio's bathroom. "Where do you keep your Motrin, Horatio?"

"In the cabinet," he replied as Calleigh carefully pulled his unbuttoned shirt down his arms and placed it at the end of the bed. "You know, I hoped this night would end with you undressing me, but this wasn't quite how I imagined it playing out."

"Really?" Calleigh smirked as she kissed him while her hands travelled to his belt buckle.

A small cough interrupted the moment.

"When you've let him up for air, give him these will you, Calleigh?"

Breaking away, Calleigh took the pills from her colleague and handed them to her lover with a glass of water.

"I'll see you in the morning," Alexx said, watching him swallow the tablets and move carefully into bed. "Can I speak to you for a moment, Calleigh?"

She gave her colleague a smile. "Sure."

"He's not going anywhere tomorrow," the doctor said with a mischievous grin.

Calleigh looked confused. "That's not what you said earlier."

"Those pills I gave him…I told you they were Motrin?" Calleigh nodded, having a feeling that she knew where this was heading. "He has half a 'script left of the pain meds the hospital gave him. I slipped those in instead."

"Alexx, he's going to go mad when he finds out!"

"Well, it won't be tomorrow. I gave him enough to knock an elephant out," Alexx retorted with a satisfied smile as she grabbed her medical bag and made to leave, satisfied that her work here was done.


	14. Chapter 14

Calleigh silenced the alarm quickly for fear of disturbing the man lying next to her. She needn't have worried, Horatio didn't so much as twitch at the sound of her phone bleeping incessantly at her.

She rolled onto her side and watched him for a while. He was still pretty much in the same position she'd found him in after Alexx had beat a hasty retreat last night. The pills that she'd given him had knocked him out almost instantly.

It seemed as if they were still working their magic this morning and truth be told, perhaps it wasn't only the pain medication that was having an effect. She'd noticed these past couple of days that something had been eating at Horatio, causing him to be restless at night. She had said nothing for fear of pushing him away and retreating even further into himself.

Trying to drag the truth out of him had been hard work and taken its toll on both of them. She had no desire to keep forcing him to be honest with her. It might prove successful in the short term, but it would only cause friction and mistrust between them in the long run.

She'd never seen him look quite so exhausted as he had the night he'd returned from Yelina's with several boxes of Raymond's things. It was obvious that Horatio was not going to stop until he got to the truth of what happened to his brother on the fateful night that he was shot and killed.

As stubborn as Horatio was, there would be no way that he would figure things out if he was running on empty. Perhaps the pills that Alexx had given him had only kick-started the rest that Horatio's body and mind desperately needed.

She kept her eye on him as she set about getting ready for work and leaving the house and still Horatio had barely moved a muscle. Her mind made up, she picked up his cell phone and switched it off. Hopefully, by the time he'd woken and realised what was going on, the day would almost be over.

* * *

Calleigh glanced down at her phone, checking for any missed calls or irate messages from Horatio. She was relieved to find that there weren't any, but it was still early in the day. There was still plenty of time for Horatio to wake up and find out what she'd done.

"Hey, Cal," Eric said as she walked into the break room.

"Morning," she replied, although it was clear to Eric that she was distracted. "Where are you and Speed at with the Harrigan case?"

The question must have taken Eric by surprise. "Uh, I was going to give H and update on that this morning."

He scratched his head and looked confused.

Speed entered the room, helping himself to coffee and a donut. "I just spoke to Detective Salas," he began before taking a large gulp of coffee, "Fancy Delancy's alibi fell through, so she's bringing her back in to question her under caution this morning. She said she tried to call H, but he didn't answer."

Eric and Speed looked at each other, both coming to the same conclusion.

"Let's get Tyler to trace his cell phone," Eric began, a look of obvious concern on his face.

Calleigh held her hand up to bring both men to a halt. "There's no need. Horatio's just taking a sick day, that's all."

Never overly animated with his facial expressions, even Speed raised his eyebrows at Calleigh's admission.

"A sick day?" Speed said, his voice rising slightly in shock, "H never takes a sick day."

Eric elbowed Speed in the ribs. "Maybe it's a ruse for something else. Maybe he's playing hooky with that woman."

Calleigh shot her two male colleagues a fierce glare. "What woman?"

Eric held both his hands up in mock surrender. "Hey, all I know is that H seems pretty laid back recently. Speed and I think maybe he's met a special lady. Maybe he's spending the day with her."

"You have no idea what you're talking about!"

Eric tried in vain to placate his colleague. "Hey, I'm just putting two and two together and coming up with the obvious…."

Speed had the good grace to look ashamed at least. Crossing her arms over her chest, Calleigh admonished them both.

"Eric, I can understand," she began as she gave him a disappointed look, "but I expected better from you, Tim."

Tim Speedle stood up, ready to defend himself. "Hey, what did I do?"

"Since when has Horatio's private life been your concern?" Calleigh continued, her anger taking full flight.

"Cal," Eric began, taking a step toward her only to be stopped by her fierce glare. "I didn't mean anything by it."

"No, no one ever does, do they?" she spat, turning on her heels, leaving the room and slamming the door behind her.

The two men looked at each other.

"What the hell was that about?" Eric asked his colleague.

Speed shrugged his shoulders. "I get a feeling this is about more than H taking a sick day." Speed scratched the stubble on his chin. "I don't buy it anyway. H still wouldn't take a sick day even if he was missing an arm, a leg and half of his intestines."

Eric couldn't deny the truth of that statement, as extreme as it was. Horatio would never willingly take a sick day, even if his life depended on it. Something much bigger was going on that Calleigh was refusing to divulge to them.

"Something doesn't add up," Eric mused.

Speed finished the last of his coffee and patted his colleague on the shoulder. "Whatever it is, its probably not something we want to get involved in."

Eric nodded his head, knowing Speed was right.

* * *

Feeling bad about tearing a strip off of Speed and Eric earlier, Calleigh set about cleaning weapons in her lab with a fervour. The two men would figure out pretty quickly what was going on if she didn't get her act together soon.

It suddenly occurred to her that Horatio had yet to reveal the outcome of his discussion with the Chief regarding their relationship. He'd been due to tell her last night before everything had quickly headed south.

"Hey, I got your message," Frank said as he moved quietly into the gun lab. "Everything ok?"

Putting down the weapon she'd been cleaning, Calleigh turned to look at the tall detective. "Thanks for meeting me down here, I didn't want anyone else overhearing our conversation."

Frank looked slightly uneasy at her admission. "Does Horatio know about this?"

Calleigh shook her head. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Where is he?"

Calleigh took a deep breath before she began. "Horatio had a visit from some federal officers last night. They warned him to stay away from the gangs you've both been looking into."

Frank ran a hand over his balding head. "Those sons of bitches. Is he ok?"

"A few bumps and bruises. Nothing serious."

"Don't tell me he's running around looking for them?"

Calleigh shook her head. "Alexx took care of that." She saw the confused look on Frank's face and clarified, "She dosed him. I don't think he's going to be doing much running around today."

Frank huffed and hiked his pants toward his portly stomach. "He's going to go apeshit when he finds out."

"Someone needs to make him see reason, Frank. He's been like a dog with a bone these past few days. He's obsessed with finding out what happened to his brother."

"Aint that the truth," Frank agreed. "You do realise that he's going to be back at it by tomorrow, don't you?"

Calleigh gave the detective a hopeful look. "That's why I was hoping you could help me out. Keep an eye on him, will you?"

Frank nodded his agreement. "Not to sound blunt about it, but why do you care so much about what Horatio's up to?"

"Because he's my friend," Calleigh shot back a little too quickly.

Frank cocked an eyebrow. "Just a friend?"

The look on Calleigh's face had been all the answer that Frank needed. He grinned at her.

"'Bout time too," he said as he walked away, chuckling to himself.

* * *

Raymond Caine sipped on a glass of scotch as he looked over the building schematics once more. He needed to be sure that all possible outcomes were considered and covered before green-lighting the operation.

News had spread that violence had broken out across the city by two rival gangs, both of which had connections to the group he'd infiltrated and become a part of these past few years. Bodies were starting to pile up and the MDPD would be crawling all over the city trying to track down the perpetrators.

His colleague, the one who had gotten him into this mess in the first place, had suggested that there would be no better time to carry out their plans than right now. With the MDPD chasing their tails and tracking down drug-dealing gangbangers, no one would notice or even care what they were up to.

Something didn't sit right with him though. There was something about their planned heist that made him feel uncomfortable. They were supposed to be tracking and shutting down drug rings, not breaking and entering and stealing money.

But this was the way of the world when you were undercover. Suddenly, the lines between good and bad, right and wrong became blurred. He had always justified that the actions he took were just a means to an end - sometimes you had to rob Peter to pay Paul…

"You wanna know what a little bird told me today?"

The man's voice had caught him by surprise. He needed to get his head back into the game and forget about what had happened several weeks ago.

"Not really."

"The lieutenant had a visit from the Feds last night."

Ray stood up quickly, the tumbler of scotch knocked onto its side. "I told you to stay away from him!"

The man held his hands up in mock supplication. "Relax, they weren't too heavy with him. Your brother can take a couple of punches, can't he?"

He knew that Horatio was a strong man and able to look after himself. He'd proven that enough times when Horatio had taken punishments from their old man that were meant for his younger sibling.

Raymond had tried to justify the night of the attack to himself so many times. He told himself that Horatio had taken worse beatings from their father, that he was a sanctimonious hypocrite who deserved to be taken down a rung or two, that he was doing this for the greater good and to protect his undercover status within the drug smuggling ring….

Whichever way he cut it, there was no real justification for what he'd done. Even though it had momentarily felt good to be the brother in control, the brother with all the power, Raymond realised quickly that the victory was hollow.

It had eaten away at him, the fact that he had done nothing to help his brother and had set upon him with the rest of the gang. Once the guilt had set in, it ate at him like a cancer and he finally realised how much he loved Horatio. After years of fighting and arguing, it became clear to him that his brother had only ever loved him and wanted the best for him.

And he'd paid him back by throwing it in his face and almost getting him killed. He might have made mistakes, but Raymond Caine was not a stupid man. He would not make the same mistake twice.

Grabbing him by his jacket, Raymond threw the man into the nearest wall, snarling in his face. "If hear that Horatio has so much as a hair out of place…I swear to God I'm going to blow this whole operation sky high and take you all down with me!"

"That sounds like an empty threat, Caine."

He grabbed the man again and shoved him into the wall even harder. "It's a promise. Tell your bulldogs to back off or I'll really show you what I'm capable of."

The man laughed at him. "Careful, Caine. It's not like you have many friends...apart from me."

No, Raymond thought to himself, but he had family. It would be the one thing that he would focus on from now on. Maybe they would never understand what he'd done or the reasons why, but he would give his life to protect them from whatever might come next.

* * *

It was mid afternoon by the time Horatio's call finally came.

"Hi," Calleigh said, sounding chirpy and bright.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?"

She could tell from the tone of his voice that he was less than happy with her. He sounded as if he were still half asleep.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked, ignoring his displeasure.

"I slept like someone slipped me a roofie last night," he sighed.

"You can blame Alexx for that, I had nothing to do with it."

She could hear his humourless huff down the phone line. "Oh trust me, Alexx and I will be having a long discussion regarding her interpretation of the Hippocratic oath when I see her next." He paused for a moment. "I take it you were the one who turned my phone off?"

She held a hand up, even though he couldn't see it. "Guilty as charged."

"Calleigh…" he began, "you shouldn't have done that."

They'd been here before - Horatio obstinately denying to those around him that he didn't need anyone looking out for him or taking care of him.

"Horatio, you haven't been sleeping properly lately. I figured your body and your mind could do with a rest for a while. You won't be able to figure everything out if you're exhausted."

He said nothing for a number of moments and she feared that he had hung up on her. "Maybe you're right…it doesn't mean that I agree with how you went about it though."

"So all is forgiven?" she asked hopefully.

"There's nothing to forgive," he said quickly, trying to put her mind at rest. "I guess I'm just not used to someone playing hardball and being as sneaky as you are."

"Horatio, I'm not trying to undermine you or control your life," she said in all seriousness, "I just want you to talk to me and be honest about what's going on in your head. Its almost like I can see the wheels turning in your mind when you're trying to figure out this whole Raymond thing. I just want to help you."

"I know," he replied softly and she could almost hear the smile that was no doubt creeping across his face as he spoke. "That's why I was going to ask if you wanted to come to mine after work…" his voice trailed off for a moment or two before he spoke again, "I was hoping you'd help me look through Raymond's things."

She caught the hint of uncertainty in his voice and it almost broke her heart at how unsure he sounded. It suddenly hit her that Horatio was making a huge gesture of trust and openness toward her. The two of them had barely spoken about Raymond unless she had as good as forced it out of him.

Horatio was asking her permission to open the Pandora's box of his troubled history with Raymond. For him to take such a huge step spoke volumes of how much trust he was placing in her. Perhaps she was finally making inroads into finding out just what made Horatio Caine tick and had made him the man he was today.

He was opening himself up to her and she jumped at the chance of helping the man she loved find some sort of peace when it came to Raymond.

"There's no need to ask, Horatio. Of course I'll help you…but on one condition."

"Which is?"

"Let me bring dinner by way of apology. I shouldn't have switched your phone off. It wasn't my place to make that decision."

"Hmmm," he said in that way that got her all excited. "As long as you bring some Chinese and a bottle of wine. I'm sure I could find it in myself to forgive you…."


	15. Chapter 15

Horatio had opened the door before she'd even had a chance to knock.

"I come bearing a peace offering," Calleigh said, lifting the bag and bottle of wine up for Horatio to see.

Horatio eyed the bag with a mischievous grin as he took it from her and glanced inside.

"Did you bring kung po chicken?"

Rolling her eyes, she stepped inside and kissed Horatio. "Of course."

Grabbing the corkscrew from the kitchen, Calleigh made herself comfortable on the couch next to her lover.

"How was your day?" he asked, opening a carton of food and passing it to her.

"Oh, you know. The usual."

He arched an eyebrow at her before taking a bite of chicken.

"How was yours?" she asked, a wry smile on her face.

He gave her a rueful look as the chopsticks in his hand paused halfway to his mouth. "Short. Considering it only started a couple of hours ago."

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, knowing he was still annoyed at the fact that she'd turned his phone off. "Are you still mad with me?"

She couldn't look at him for fear of seeing disappointment in his eyes. The silence stretched until she risked a glance at him.

"I'm not mad with you, Calleigh."

That wasn't what she'd expected him to say. "You're not?"

"I know you did it for the right reasons. It's just…I've never had someone as bold as you in my life. I think I might have met my match in you." He smiled as he spoke.

"So all is forgiven?"

"Forgiven, but not forgotten," he grinned, snagging the last piece of pork from the container in her lap. "If the boot is ever on the other foot, I'm going to be twice as devious as you..."

Knowing him as well as she did, Calleigh had no doubt that he would be true to his word.

After dinner and a glass of wine, Horatio took a deep breath and placed the first box of Ray's things on the coffee table, ignoring the twinge of pain from his bruised ribs.

Calleigh could sense his unease and said nothing, except to give his thigh a gentle squeeze, trying to infuse in that gesture alone the love and support she was giving him. There would be no point rushing him, he would need to do this in his own time and at his own pace.

Taking the lid off the box, he reached in and pulled out the leather-bound book and opened it. Horatio smiled as he looked through the album of photos that Raymond had kept. Photos of their mother, the two of them at school and graduating the police academy in New York.

Calleigh heard the small gasp from Horatio as his hands ghosted over a number of newspaper clippings that Raymond had placed in the album. All of them were about Horatio and his exploits as a police officer, both in New York and Miami.

"I never knew…" he said, his voice the ghost of a whisper. He let out a shaky breath.

Calleigh said nothing. What was there to say at a time like this?

Horatio closed the book carefully and placed it to one side. Finally, he spoke.

"Things weren't good between Raymond and I at the end. We were fighting a lot." Horatio laughed humourlessly. "I honestly thought he hated me. It was like he couldn't stand to be in the same room as me any more."

"I'm sure he loved you," Calleigh said, trying to reassure him. "Why would he have kept all of these things if he didn't?"

Horatio let out a tired sigh. "I think love and hate got a little mixed up along the way. I could see that he was getting in too deep with the undercover stuff. The more I tried to get him to see sense, the further away I seemed to push him."

He ran a hand over his face, feeling perilously close to tears. "All those years…we wasted them fighting. I don't even know what we were fighting about at the end." Horatio took a deep gulp of wine, "I kept telling myself that we'd sort things out….smooth things over tomorrow…until we ran out of tomorrows."

Calleigh could see the pain etched clearly across his features. He'd never been this open about his brother with her before. It was clear to see that the memories were painful for him.

"That day…" he began, his voice wavering slightly, "..when I got the call that Raymond had been killed… It was like the world just stopped.. like someone had sucked the life out of me."

He looked at her and she wasn't sure if she'd ever seen him look quite so sad before.

"I failed him, Calleigh."

Oh how she wanted to reach out and tell him that he was wrong, that there was nothing he could have done that would have stopped Raymond on his path to self-destruction. There was no point. He would not believe it anyway. He was determined to blame himself for Raymond's demise, nothing she could say would sway him from that.

He cleared his throat and looked slightly embarrassed. "I'm sorry."

This time she grabbed him and turned his body to face her and kissed him deeply.

"Thank you," she said, tears glistening in her eyes.

He looked at her, confused.

"You think I don't know how hard this has been for you?" she began, covering his hands with her own. "I know how big a step it is for you to open up and let me in. I won't ever let you down or betray that trust."

He gave her a rueful grin. "There's something about you that disarms me, Calleigh. I'm not one for overblown romantic gestures, but - "

She silenced him by placing her finger on his lips. "You don't have to say it. I already know."

Calleigh observed Horatio quietly as he looked through each box in turn, placing a journal or book on the coffee table every once in a while. She could see the frown on his face as he continued to stare at the book in his lap.

"What is it?" she asked.

He shook his head and the gestured at the items on the table. "The same man is in all of these books," he said as he passed her the book on his lap.

The drawing was of a dark-skinned man, at least six foot tall and heavily muscled. There was no hair to speak of on his head, save for the goatee on his face.

Horatio gestured to the books on the table once more. "Raymond drew this guy over and over again. There's something about him that's important."

"Do you recognise him?"

Horatio let out a tired sigh and shook his head. "I've never seen him before, but something about him feels familiar."

Horatio picked up another book and found yet another drawing of the mysterious man. This time, Raymond had written the word 'Iago' underneath it.

Calleigh heard the small laugh emanate from Horatio as he tapped the page.

"Have you found something?"

He looked at her and smiled. "Maybe."

Whatever it was, he wasn't going to divulge it unless she pushed him. "Are you going to let me in on the secret?"

Walking over to the bookshelf, Horatio grabbed a book and handed it to her.

She looked at him in confusion. "What does Shakespeare have to do with the guy in Raymond's journals?"

He sat down beside her on the couch once more. "Have you ever read Othello?"

She frowned. "Probably not since high school. Can you give me the cliff notes?"

She knew Horatio was an avid reader and no doubt had read all of Shakespeare's works several times over. He was a man of contrasts - not only a man of action, but a man whose intellect matched that of his physical abilities.

"Iago was the main protagonist in the story. He was one of Othello's most trusted advisors, but he ends up manipulating him into thinking his wife is having an affair. He double-crosses almost everyone in the story in one way or another. No one sees him as anything but loyal and honest, but he's truly devious and treacherous."

Calleigh processed what Horatio had just told her. "Do you think Raymond wrote that as some sort of clue?"

"Maybe."

The more he thought about it, the more it seemed obvious that Raymond had intended to leave him a clue of sorts. Perhaps the man in the books was someone that Raymond had always had suspicions about and that he would be double-crossed by him at some point. Had Raymond known that his brother would inevitably find his journals and make the connection that most people would have missed?

"Who else would have known that reference?" Calleigh asked as she watched her lover tap his fingers on the page of the book. "Do you think he intended you to see it?"

Horatio gave her a sad smile. "Raymond always complained that I had my head in a book when we were kids. I never thought that he paid much attention to what I was reading." He gestured to the drawing once more. "Looks like I was wrong."

"Raymond knew that you would make the link if anything happened to him. Do you think this man is the one who betrayed him?"

"I'm not sure," Horatio replied, "but I intend to find out."

Calleigh had no doubt that Horatio would grasp this new lead and follow it until he got to the truth. They didn't have much to go on apart from a code name and a pencil drawing of the man they needed to track down. It was at times like these that Calleigh was thankful that they worked in a crime lab with access to the latest technology and expert technicians.

Calleigh motioned for Horatio to pass her the book. "I'll get Jeffers on this first thing in the morning. I'll get him to run facial recognition analysis and see if we can come up with a match."

Horatio looked at her and opened his mouth as if he were about to object.

She cut him off before he could reply. "You've said yourself that you can't be seen to be getting too close to this. It'll look less suspicious if I ask Jeffers to do this. If anyone asks, I'll tell them that the man we're looking for is wanted for questioning for another case we're working on."

Horatio didn't look convinced. "Calleigh, I don't want you risking your own career for this. Rick Stetler is just looking for any opportunity to stick the knife in. If this blows up in our faces, the fallout should be on me."

She leaned over and kissed him tenderly. "We're in this together. I'm with you...all the way."

* * *

Laying in bed next to him, Calleigh could sense Horatio's unease. Tonight had been difficult for him and with the possibility of a new lead, she knew his mind would be working overtime to make the connection. Talking about Raymond had also brought back memories that he no doubt would prefer were forgotten.

He'd been quiet as the made their way to the bedroom and so she snuggled up close to him as they settled in bed, still feeling the shockwaves of tension radiating from his body. At times like this, she ached to be able to do something to ease his pain - both physical and emotional.

She lifted her head from his chest as she heard him sigh deeply for the fourth time in as many minutes. She knew tonight had sent his thoughts and feelings for his fallen brother reeling. She would not lay and listen to him toss restlessly all night though.

She decided to distract him from his current line of thought.

"What did the Chief say?"

The question caught him off guard and she could feel his body tense slightly at the question.

"You said he spoke to you yesterday….about us."

She felt him relax and kiss the top of her head.

"What did he say, does one of us need to transfer?"

She felt a small knot of fear take root in her stomach at the thought that they would no longer work together. What would happen if they worked opposite shifts? They would never see each other or worse, what if they were separated by hundreds of miles and working in different cities?

She could feel the small rumble of laughter in his chest. Why was he laughing about something so serious?

"No one needs to transfer, Calleigh," he reassured her.

She couldn't help the dumbfounded expression on her face as he recalled the conversation he'd had with the Chief earlier in the day.

He caught the look on her face and gave her a shy smile. "I couldn't quite believe it when he told me either."

"And Peters agreed?"

Horatio nodded his head, a rueful look on his face. "She did. I spoke to her yesterday and somehow saying thank you doesn't quite seem like enough. She's a good person, I think you'll like her."

"So she knows about us?"

She heard Horatio sigh. "I don't think the Chief spelled it out for her, but she's head of the nightshift because she's good enough to connect the dots and work it out for herself."

She ran her finger up and down his chest playfully. "Does that mean we can tell people now?"

He kissed the top of her head once more. "Would you think less of me if I said I want it to be just us for now?"

Was he implying that he was somehow ashamed of people knowing about them?

The thought crossed her mind for a split second before she realised that he would never be so cold and cruel as to think that.

"I like the fact that this is something that's just for us. No prying eyes or awkward questions…I like this little bubble we're in."

She knew exactly what he meant. There was something tempting about their relationship being private and insular - they were the only two people in the small world that their relationship had created.

Although they fit together like old lovers, the newness of their relationship was something to be protected and cherished. As soon as their relationship became public knowledge, other people would feel as if they could intrude any time they pleased.

Her hand snaked lower underneath the sheets as she rolled on top of him. They would stay in their little bubble for tonight at least and she was determined that she would make the most of it. She found herself becoming possessive over him and the thought of sharing him or their relationship with anyone else sparked a passion in her that she never knew had existed.

* * *

Rick Stetler sat in his car, several feet away from the house and far enough away that it wouldn't be immediately obvious as to what he was doing.

Horatio had been a no-show at the lab today and that had immediately piqued Rick's interest. He knew the man wasn't fully healed from his previous ordeal but he'd seemed fine the last time Rick had seen him.

He'd also caught wind of the fact that Calleigh Duquesne had berated her colleagues today for everyone to hear. Her behaviour since Horatio's attack had been odd and not that of someone purely concerned for a colleague and their welfare. There was something going on and he intended to find out what it was.

He had tailed Calleigh Duquesne from a distance as she left the lab tonight, keeping far enough behind her that he would not raise the suspicion that she was being followed. He'd already checked her address and he was surprised when she drove in the opposite direction.

She'd stopped off at a takeout restaurant before getting back into her car and his eyes had widened as he realised where she was heading. It hadn't been the first time he'd sat outside Horatio Caine's house, watching and trying to find any shred of evidence he could that the lieutenant was up to something suspicious.

A smile crept across his face as he watched Calleigh get out of her car and grab the paper bags from the passenger seat. Light flooded the driveway as Horatio Caine opened the door and let her inside. He was far enough away that the light did not reach his own car or give away his position.

It still wasn't enough to prove that anything unprofessional was happening between the two of them. Calleigh Duquesne's visit could be easily explained that she was visiting a sick colleague or that the two of them were discussing matters of a case they were working on. There was nothing illegal about two colleagues sharing a takeout and nothing he could use as ammunition against Horatio.

Making himself comfortable, Rick settled in for a long night of watching the house, waiting to see when Calleigh would leave. As the time ticked by, it became obvious that she would not be leaving as one by one, the lights in Horatio's house were turned off.

Smiling to himself, Rick turned the keys in the ignition and drove away, knowing that he had all the evidence he needed to come down on the lieutenant with the full force of his authority.


End file.
